Here’s how much faster VodafoneThree’s 5G got this year
Key Points
- VodafoneThree 5G download speeds have improved around 50%, reaching up to 50 million people or 70% of the UK population
- The mobile contract base fell 48,000 in Q1 FY27, including 25,000 low-value business SIMs the company cut itself
- Organic mobile service revenue declined 0.7% while organic fixed service revenue grew 6.1%
- Vodafone agreed in May 2026 to buy CK Hutchison out of the joint venture for £4.3 billion
- The company targets £700 million of annual cost and capex synergies by FY30
VodafoneThree’s 5G download speeds have improved by around 50% since the merger, while the business shed 48,000 mobile contract customers in the three months to 30 June 2026.
The speed gain comes from network sharing between the former Vodafone UK and Three UK estates, which Vodafone said it is running ahead of plan.
Customers on both original networks now move across the combined footprint, and the shared spectrum brings VodafoneThree 5G speeds within reach of up to 50 million people, or roughly 70% of the UK population.
The company described the integration as a fast start and points to network improvement as the first visible benefit for customers.
Vodafone losing customers
The mobile contract base fell by 48,000 over the quarter, compared with a gain of 22,000 in the final quarter of last year.
VodafoneThree disconnected 25,000 of those itself, describing them as very low value Business SIMs. Three UK customer losses continued through the period, though consumer contract churn fell 1.0 percentage point year over year across the brand portfolio.
The prepaid brands VOXI and SMARTY added 34,000 customers, down from 47,000 in the previous quarter.
Broadband added 34,000 customers, which the company attributes partly to seasonality after 64,000 in Q4, and fixed wireless access added 23,000, reported within the mobile segment.
VodafoneThree markets gigabit speeds to 24.5 million households through fibre-to-the-home partnerships, and in May 2026 launched a 5G broadband product aimed at a further 3.7 million homes sitting outside that fibre footprint.
In April 2026 it launched a 5G Slicing proposition for enterprises, offering guaranteed performance levels as part of a network differentiation strategy.
Revenue growth coming entirely from fixed
UK total revenue rose 22.2% to €2.36 billion and service revenue rose 20.8% to €1.99 billion, both flattered by the consolidation of Three UK following completion of the merger in May 2025.
On an organic basis, service revenue grew 0.6%, an improvement on the 0.2% decline recorded in Q4.
Underneath that, organic mobile service revenue fell 0.7%, which the company attributes to ARPU pressure from the phasing of mid-contract price rises and business contract renewals, partly offset by wholesale growth.
Organic fixed service revenue grew 6.1%, up sharply from 0.8% in Q4, driven by consumer broadband momentum and business fixed returning to growth after planned managed services contract terminations a year earlier.
Vodafone Business service revenue in the UK declined 0.7% organically, a marked improvement on the 7.8% decline in the previous quarter, with digital services including software-defined networking and SaaS growing through the period. The UK accounts for 23% of group service revenue.
