The merged company’s mobile networks have been rated highly in leading independent benchmarks, while the early fruits of its £11bn network investment programme have been recognised by Ofcom.
The early benefits of VodafoneThree’s network investment programme have been highlighted in an open letter from Melanie Dawes, the chief executive of Ofcom. The letter was sent to Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, noting that VodafoneThree has delivered faster 4G speeds for 7 million Three UK customers.
The letter also pointed out how mobile coverage has been improved in 16,500km2 of the country. This is thanks to the ongoing rollout of Multi-Operator Core Network technology, allowing Vodafone and Three customers to automatically connect each to other’s networks at no extra cost. Both of these achievements were delivered just a few months after the creation of VodafoneThree, following the merger of Vodafone UK and Three UK.
Mobile News Awards recognise VodafoneThree and Vodafone Business
Multiple gongs have been dished out to VodafoneThree and Vodafone Business at the 2026 Mobile News Awards.
The company’s pioneering work in 5G SA network slicing won it the 5G Advanced Deployment award. The judges said: “Good demonstration of successful trials with evidence of positive impact and potential for further roll out with additional use cases in the future. Strong design/quality through collaboration with technology partners for deployment.”
VodafoneThree also won the AI Enabled Network Platform award for improvements to the TOBi customer care chatbot. The judges said: “AI‑enhanced TOBi platform now delivers far higher accuracy and faster resolution… A scalable, secure, and customer‑centric AI solution delivering meaningful impact at national scale.”
The Network Business award went to Vodafone Business. The judges said: “An impressive entry and underpinned by the rich heritage of business credibility that Vodafone is already known for. Taking care of ‘Not-Spots’ is encouraging for business users. A very good entry.”
Three UK tops mobile speed tests
The latest Speedtest Awards by Ookla, makers of the well-known Speedtest benchmark of internet connection performance, has given top marks to VodafoneThree’s two flagship brands. Three was awarded a 5G speed score of 53.46, the fastest in the UK, while Vodafone came second with 43.05. Scores were given to all the UK’s mobile networks for their download and upload speeds, as well as latency, to give an overall view of performance.
