VODAFONE is one of the most popular mobile phone operators in the world and has been running for almost four decades.
In June 2023, Vodafone and its competitor Three unveiled a £16.5billion merger following more than a year of talks.
Who owns Vodafone?
Vodafone Group Plc is owned by a consortium of investors, the largest of which is BlackRock Fund Advisors.
Other shareholders include Liberty Global Plc and The Vanguard Group, Inc.
The group's registered office and global headquarters are in Berkshire, England.
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Margherita Della Valle has been Vodafone's chief executive officer since January 1, 2023.
She was previously group chief financial officer and group chief executive at the network.
Prior to Della Valle, Nick Read held the title of CEO.
When was Vodafone founded?
Vodafone was founded by British radar and electronics firm Rascal in 1983.
Then, after Rascal won the license to build Britain’s first cellular telephone network, Vodafone was launched in 1985.
The first-ever mobile call on a UK network was made on January 1, 1985, between Parliament Square and Surrey.
Rascal and Vodafone de-merged in 1991 and just a year later, software engineer Neil Papworth sent the world's first ever SMS text message to Vodafone's then-director Richard Jarvis.
The company hit many milestones throughout the 1990s, hitting the 1million customers mark in 1993, and 5million in 1999.
As of May 2023, Vodafone was the third-largest mobile network operator in the UK, with just shy of 18million subscribers.
Throughout the years since its launch, Vodafone has sponsored many big names, including Manchester United and the McLaren Formula One team.
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Vodafone was the first network to start carrying live 5G traffic from a site in Salford, Greater Manchester.
The network now has 5G in locations across Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Spain, as well as the UK.
Why are Vodafone and Three merging?
After the news of the Vodafone and Three merger was unveiled, Vodafone boss Della Valle explained the reasons behind it.
She said that without the new deal, both Vodafone and Three would be unable to invest, or keep up with fibre and cable owners BT-EE and Virgin Media O2.
She added the merger could help boost the country’s productivity and economy as it paves the way for further investment in the 5G network.
The CEO also hailed the deal as “great for customers, great for the country and great for competition”.
Though the merger sparked fears of higher charges, both Vodafone and Three reassured their combined 27million customers that they would not be changing pricing strategies.
Bosses did admit there would be some staff overlap, though the move is expected to create up to 12,000 jobs in Britain.
In May 2023, just a month before the merger was announced, Vodafone announced it would be cutting 11,000 roles globally to "simplify" the business.
The fusion of Vodafone and Three cuts the number of UK mobile phone operators from four to three.
A similar move was blocked by competition regulators in 2016 when Three tried to merge with O2.