Vodafone has confirmed plans to merge with fellow mobile provider Three in a major deal which will create the biggest mobile operator in the UK.
The tie-up would bring together around 27 million customers, surpassing EE which is owned by BT Group, and Virgin Media O2, owned by Telefonica and Liberty Global.
Virgin Media O2 has around 24 million customers while EE, which is owned by BT Group, has 20 million mobile users.