In 2020, VHA seeks to implement the merger, subject to any ACCC appeal and further approvals, and “delivering benefits to both VHA and TPG/iiNet customers”. According to VHA, the merged company will have a “strong balance sheet, significantly improved spectrum and transmission assets, and increased cross-selling opportunities”.
At end-2019, VHA announced it would start deploying 5G in the first half of 2020 with partner Nokia. Berroeta said the company had been working with Nokia for several years and that the partnership would accelerate Vodafone’s delivery of 5G. Berroeta also said the partnership was the final step in a long process following the federal government’s security guidance in August 2018, when it banned China’s Huawei and ZTE from taking part in the rollout of 5G network networks in the country.
Australia’s Federal Court has recently declared a proposed merger between TPG Telecom and Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) would not substantially affect competition. Back in May 2019, the ACCC rejected the merger because it considered that, in the absence of the merger, TPG was likely to continue to deploy its own mobile network and become a disruptive competitor in Australia’s concentrated mobile telecommunications market. The companies appealed and won the suit. TPG earlier announced it expects its merger with VHA to be completed in mid-2020.
