Slaughter and May is advising Vodafone in relation to its UK network-sharing arrangements with Virgin Media O2

Slaughter and May is advising Vodafone in relation to its UK network-sharing arrangements with Virgin Media O2.

On 3 July 2024, Vodafone UK and Virgin Media O2 announced that they have agreed to extend and enhance their existing mobile network sharing agreement for more than a decade, bolstering quality mobile coverage across the country and delivering improved services for customers.

Many elements of the new agreement expand on the existing arrangements between Vodafone UK and Virgin Media O2, on which Slaughter and May has previously advised, and are independent of the Vodafone UK/Three UK merger outcome. However, subject to completion of the merger, the operators have agreed that Virgin Media O2 will acquire spectrum from the newly created ‘MergeCo’, establishing three scaled mobile network operators each with better alignment of spectrum holding.

Slaughter and May worked closely on the project with the Vodafone UK legal team, led by Andy Yorston (General Counsel) and Clare Daniels (Lead Counsel).