TPG and Vodafone connect to the dark side

On Wednesday, TPG Telecom (ASX: TPM) and Vodafone Hutchinson Australia (ASX: HTA) announced a $1 billion, 15 year new strategic relationship. TPG will shift its mobile customers to Vodafone’s mobile network, dropping Optus as its main supplier, as well as constructing a dark fibre network to support Vodafone’s mobile towers. About 3000 mobile cell sites – two thirds of the Vodafone Australia network – will be connected using TPG's dark fibre services, and is expected to be completed by mid-2018. The use of dark fibre could lead to both lower costs for Vodafone customers and higher data allowances if the savings and added capacity are passed on to users. The deal follows TPG’s recent $1.6 billion acquisition of iiNet. TPG shares closed flat for the week after strong outperformance recently. We own TPG in the investment portfolio.