Jeremy Green, principal analyst at Ovum provides the following perspective:
“This is an entirely sensible move by Vodafone and Telefonica in the UK. In fact, we did predict this as early as 2008, when we said that most countries would end up with only two physical LTE networks."
“It follows on from the merger of T-Mobile and Orange in the UK into Everything Everywhere. If Vodafone and Telefonica had not also embraced sharing in this way they would have been at a competitive disadvantage. As it was, they were able to build on and extend the relationship that they already had through Cornerstone, their existing joint venture. This sets them up well for the 4G rollout and will help them catch up on 2/3G rollout too."
“Both operators stress that it has no implications for their relationship elsewhere, and that they will continue to compete on services. This move follows the logic of network economics and technological possibility, and is what the near future is going to look like.”