News: Vodafone and Hutchison 3G merge in Australia

Vodafone Australia and Hutchison 3G have agreed to merge their telecommunications business in Australia.

Both Vodafone and HTAL will have an equal ownership of 505 in the joint venture which will be renamed VHA Pty Limited (“VHA”).

VHA will be marketing its products and services under the Vodafone brand, but will retain exclusive rights to use the “3″ brand in Australia.

Vodafone is to recieve a defferred payment of A$500 million from VHA.

Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive of Vodafone, said: “This transaction will benefit customers in Australia as it creates a company with the necessary scale to compete strongly in the mobile market. Customers can look forward to a wider portfolio of voice and data services, delivered under the Vodafone brand over a high quality network, which through ongoing investment will bring 3G coverage to around 95% of the population. This is an important step in the transformation of the Australian mobile industry.”

Completion of the transaction is expected mid next year.