Investors in mobile operator Vodafone (VOD) will be keen to hear at next week’s third-quarter trading update (5 February) whether a deal for its Italian business is in the offing.

Swiss operator Swisscom (SCMN:SWX) and French firm Iliad have both expressed an interest, with Iliad valuing Vodafone Italia at a cool €10.5 billion including debt.

This follows news last month of the first successful test of advanced 5G uplink technology in Europe, with upload speeds of up to 273Mbps, and the signing of a 10-year strategic partnership with tech giant Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ) to develop cloud and AI (artificial intelligence) services.

So far this year, Vodafone shares are up 1p or 1.4% to 69.6p, but over the last year they have lost 23% as the telecom sector has fallen out of favour.

News on the home front has been less positive, too, with Ofcom announcing it would look into inflation-linked contract price hikes operated by Vodafone and its rivals.

The regulator argues inflation-linked price rises cause ‘substantial amounts of consumer harm’ by complicating the process of shopping for a deal and making competition less effective.

Meanwhile, the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) is investigating Vodafone’s proposed merger with Three over concerns it could lead to higher bills for customers.

The deal, announced last year, would create the UK’s largest mobile operator by far with 27 million customers, and Three chief executive Robert Finnegan claims the tie-up will give customers faster, more reliable coverage ‘without paying a penny extra’.

However, the Unite union has estimated bills could surge by up to £300 if the merger is approved. 

UK UPDATES OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS

FULL-YEAR RESULTS

5 February: Porvair

7 February: British American Tobacco, Unilever, AstraZeneca

FIRST-HALF RESULTS

7 February: PZ Cussons, Barratt Developments, Ashmore Group

8 February: Redrow 

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

8 February: Compass, Tate & Lyle

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