A cut above: EE and Vodafone launch premium services using network slicing

With Xavier Niel becoming Vodafone’s largest shareholder, the company will be pleased to be able to demonstrate a solid set of Q1 results.

EBITDA upside is coming from Rest of World and appears largely attributable to the consolidation of Safaricom, but is nonetheless reassuring of the prospect of hard-currency growth.

We continue to have reservations about Vodafone’s value over volume strategy, with the upside of price increases often short-lived, and loss of scale a difficult place to come back from.

Service revenue trends confounded expectations to improve slightly in spite of an expected drag from changes to in-contract pricing.

VodafoneThree appears to be rethinking its speed-tiered pricing on both main brands, perhaps signalling clearer differentiation between them.

For the new government, planning law reform could make a real difference to the sector's investment profile, and hence, its growth ambitions.

The low price, low quality vicious cycle in UK mobile is becoming ever more apparent in both revenue pressure and in network quality surveys.

Policymakers meanwhile demand better quality, coverage and resilience which will be tough to deliver without a more robust revenue outlook.

Without radical change, the government’s affordability priority looks set to win out over its growth one, driving the industry towards (self-reinforcing) sub-optimal outcomes for both consumers and growth.