Reports emerged in the last few days that TPG and Vodafone Australia are in talks for a merger between the two telecommunication companies. There’s no certainty that this is going ahead, but the two companies are holding talks to explore possibilities.
The move is interesting, as TPG is soon to become Australia’s fourth national mobile network operator, and it has already made it clear it will compete hard on price and value.
It wouldn’t be the first time that TPG and Vodafone have worked together on a commercial basis; TPG’s current mobile offerings are powered by Vodafone’s carrier network, after a move from Optus in 2015. TPG has also assisted Vodafone to build a fibre network, bringing the value of both deals to around $1 billion.
In most other developed markets, it is unusual to see four large-scale mobile network operators successfully competing – usually, there are three, and a merger between Vodafone and TPG would give the new company the size and clout to rival Optus and Telstra.
I thought TPG was out to kill Vodafone, with the coming TPG 5G mobile network. But alas, now they’re going to get into bed together.
That would be good. TPG and iiNet are exceptional. I use TPG in my home internet. Never a problem. I user Vodafone on mobile a it’s reliable and extremely well priced with simple options, and Bri good for prepay. Love seeing Telstra and optus being flogged. Both are. Very expensive for prepay and very complicated options.
Price is often about economies of scale, and data provision through our telcos is no different.
Should be a good thing and will push Optus and Telstra to cut prices further, or offer more data to customers.