Three agreed a deal to buy UK Broadband, which operates mobile broadband provider Relish, in February. The deal will see the Hutch-owned operator pay an initial £250 million in cash, plus two deferred £25 million credits towards MVNO services running on Three’s network.
The transaction sees UK Broadband become a wholly owned subsidiary of Three UK including its 17,000-strong customer base, although the mobile firm said it has no immediate plans to change how the company operates.
The deal also gives Three access to a chunk of additional spectrum, understood to be around 40MHz across the 3.4GHz, 3.6GHz, 3.9GHz bands. Though spectrum cannot currently be used for mobile services, it has been earmarked as possible bands for 5G services.
The deal marks an expansion of Three’s mobile based, fixed line replacement service which was launched last year under the name Home-Fi. It aims to offer home Wi-Fi services in areas which have poor internet connectivity using Three’s additional mobile service. Home-Fi launched across 135 stores based in non-congested areas of the mobile operator’s network, and sees a router connected using a SIM for connectivity.
Speaking when the agreement with PCCW was announced in February Three UK CEO Dave Dyson said: “UK Broadband gives us an opportunity to expand our ambition to provide high quality and great value internet connectivity for UK consumers.”
