The boss of mobile phone firm Three has hit out at the UK’s “abysmal” 5G speeds and availability.

Chief executive Robert Finnegan made the comments as he urged regulators to approve the company’s planned merger with Vodafone – arguing the £15bn move would pave the way for better investment in network infrastructure.

It came as Three reported pre-tax losses of £30m during the first six months of 2024 – an improvement on the £76m it lost during the same period last year.

Mr Finnegan said that despite scaling back its capital expenditure, the firm had “continued to make a loss driven by the escalating inflationary costs of operating our network”.

He said: “Our cash flows have been negative since 2020 and our costs have almost doubled in five years, meaning investment in [the] network is unsustainable.

“UK mobile networks rank an abysmal 22nd out of 25 in Europe on 5G speeds and availability, with the dysfunctional structure of the market denying us the ability to invest sustainably to fix this situation.”

Mr Finnegan added: “Our merger with Vodafone will unlock £11bn worth of investment in digital infrastructure, creating a best-in-class 5G network for the UK and helping to grow the UK economy.”

Three said his comments were based on a report by research firm Opensignal earlier this year, which found the UK was lagging behind both its European and G7 counterparts.

Denmark topped the research’s rankings for mobile download speed, with only Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland performing worse than the UK.

The UK’s four main mobile providers – Three, Vodafone, BT/EE and Virgin Media-O2 – have been rolling out the technology to provide 5G to phone users across the country.

In 2020 the government decided to block Chinese tech giant Huawei from involvement in building the network due to security concerns.

Ministers also ordered the removal of some of Huawei’s already-installed equipment.

However, some analysts have claimed the move has resulted in disruption and delays to the UK’s rollout.

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Merger investigation

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is currently investigating Three and Vodafone’s proposed merger amid concerns that mobile phone users could face higher prices and reduced quality of service if the plans go ahead.

The watchdog further raised worries that the deal may make it difficult for smaller “virtual” operators, such as Sky Mobile, Lebara, and Lyca, to negotiate good deals for their own customers, as it would reduce the number of network operators available to host them.

Three and Vodafone have dismissed the concerns and said customers would be better off.

They have argued that the merger would lead to increased network investment, while also allowing the companies to better compete with their major rivals BT/EE and Virgin Media-O2.

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The CMA – which potentially could block the deal from going ahead – expanded its probe in April. The watchdog said in an update earlier this month that it may not publish its final report into the issue until December.

The regulator said the delay was a reflection of the “very wide scope” of its inquiry and the “technical and regulatory complexity of the sector”.

Three’s half-year results, which were published on Thursday, also revealed that its revenue was up 9% to £1,335m during the period, while operating expenses increased by 5% to £548m, which it said was driven by an enlarged network and cost inflation.

The company’s number of customers rose by 3% year-on-year – around 352,000 – to a total of almost 11 million.

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