Vodafone share price: Group finalises 5G deal with O2

Vodafone (LON:VOD) has finalised a 5G network deal with O2 which will see the companies share equipment on joint network sites across the UK, the FTSE 100 telco has said. The news comes ahead of the FTSE 100 company’s results on Friday and after the company received EU approval for the Liberty Global deal.

Vodafone’s share price has slipped into the red in today’s session, having given up 0.79 percent to 129.77p as of 09:50 BST, largely in line with losses in the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index currently standing 0.89 percent lower at 7,489.79 points. The group’s shares have given up more than 26 percent of their value over the past year, as compared with about a 1.3-percent dip in the Footsie.

Vodafone and O2 finalise 5G deal

Vodafone O2 Telefónica UK announced today that that they have agreed to share 5G active equipment, such as radio antennas, on joint network sites across the UK. The companies have also agreed to greater 5G network autonomy on approximately 2,700 sites in 23 of the UK’s larger cities, representing just over 16 percent of combined mast sites. This is in addition to London and brings  the total number of autonomous sites to 25 percent.

“We’re driving our 5G roll-out forward with this agreement, and taking our customers, our business and the whole of the UK with us. Greater autonomy in major cities will allow us to accelerate deployment, and together with active network sharing, ensures that our customers will get super-fast 5G in even more places more quickly, using fewer masts,” Nick Jeffery, CEO, Vodafone UK, commented in a statement.

Analysts on FTSE 100 company

Deutsche Bank reaffirmed the blue-chip telco as a ‘buy’ this week, without specifying a target on the Vodafone share price. According to MarketBeat, the blue-chip group currently has a consensus ‘buy’ rating and an average valuation of 185.06p.