Liberty Global and BT - comment

Given its stake in VMED 02, Liberty Global would not be allowed to exercise any control at Vodafone. The 4.9% equity stake is a play on Vodafone’s recovery after a miserable couple of years leading to the departure of the CEO. The bet from Liberty is that cost cuts and recovery of the non-UK business, and a successful culmination of merger talks with 3 (CK Hutchinson’s UK mobile business) will turn around the equity. The performance in the UK has been a bright spot for Vodafone.

Currently, BT, VMED, SKY and Talk Talk account for 85% of broadband subscribers (with Vodafone being the largest of the rest). The UK market is competitive but has moved beyond pure price-driven competition. The recent decision by BT to introduce wholesale fibre sales to non-network broadband operators like SKY was a recognition that land-grab opportunities in the UK market are over, BT is now looking to leverage its network rather than kill its wholesale customers. Competition will remain evolutionary as mobile providers roll out 5G and converge further with fixed fibre providers.

https://www.ft.com/content/1ef28c4f-24e9-4026-82ff-10e688c48842