Investment in Britain’s mobile phone network is “unsustainable”, Three UK has warned as it seeks approval from the competition regulator for a planned £18 billion merger with Vodafone.
The lossmaking Three UK said its revenue had risen by 9 per cent from £1.23 billion to £1.33 billion in the first half of its financial year, with a pre-tax loss narrowing to £30 million from £76 million in the same period last year.
However, Robert Finnegan, 62, the chief executive of Three UK, said that “despite scaling back our capital expenditure, we continue to make a loss, driven by the escalating inflation costs of operating our network. Our cashflow has been negative since 2020 and our costs have almost doubled in five years, meaning investment in