Vodafone and Three Hutchison are in talks about pooling their network infrastructure in Ireland. The news was first reported by the Financial Times which wrote, with reference to a person with knowledge of the situation, that savings of €200m could be…
Vodafone and Three Hutchison are in talks about pooling their network infrastructure in Ireland. The news was first reported by the Financial Times which wrote, with reference to a person with knowledge of the situation, that savings of €200m could be made within a five year period.
TelecomFinance understands that talks between the companies are advanced, but not final yet and that no contract has been signed at this point.
Provided the companies successfully seal a deal within the next weeks or months, Vodafone and Three Ireland will create a new 50:50 JV that would own the sites and network infrastructure of both operators. The joint venture would not include spectrum, and certain other parts of the infrastructure would also remain excluded. The companies would continue to compete with each other on the retail level.
The deal, which is very similar to a deal struck between Vodafone and Telefonica in the UK just weeks ago, would allow the parent companies to role out LTE more quickly than previously expected.
Three Ireland and Vodafone declinded to comment.
