Vodafone Is Making Progress but Reshaping the Competitive Landscape in Europe Would Be a Big Help

Though Vodafone has made moves to improve its position over the past several years, the firm has still struggled to grow amid challenging competitive situations in Spain, Italy, and the U.K., which collectively contribute about a third of total service revenue. We believe Vodafone’s assets in these countries hold substantial value. Recent steps to separate tower infrastructure from the operating company and form network sharing agreements should help improve profitability, but we’re more pleased to see that Vodafone and its rivals finally seem serious about restructuring these markets. While regulators will certainly weigh in on any proposed consolidation, we expect Vodafone will continue moving in the right direction.