Fresh questions over a nine-figure payout tied to Vodafone’s German fibre venture have knocked the telecoms group’s shares off the 52-week high they touched only a day earlier, with the stock coming under additional pressure from a downbeat read on the wider European sector.
At the centre of the unease is OXG Glasfaser, the German joint venture Vodafone has leaned on to bankroll its fibre rollout. According to media reports, the sale of Patrick Drahi’s 50% stake in the business to Société Générale could cost Vodafone as much as EUR 1.1 billion in anticipated earnout payments. Should the expected contributions fail to materialise, the company would have to plug the earnings gap through other parts of its business. The prospect of losing that cash inflow is a blow for the British group, which had designed OXG as a key lever both to accelerate fibre connections in Germany and to free up financial headroom.
Traders reacted swiftly. Vodafone shares shed 3.3% on Friday to change hands at EUR 1.48, retreating from the EUR 1.54 peak reached on Thursday. A separate reading of the session put the decline at 2.9%, with the stock at EUR 1.49 — still hovering just below that 52-week high.
Sector-wide downgrade adds to the drag
The selling was not confined to Vodafone. Morgan Stanley cut its rating on French rival Orange to “Underweight”, triggering profit-taking across European telecoms and pulling down peers including Deutsche Telekom alongside the UK carrier.
Planning rules force 86 UK sites offline
On Vodafone’s home turf, regulatory friction is creating a different kind of headache. Strict London planning rules have already forced VodafoneThree to shut down 86 mobile sites in 2026, and close to 100 could be offline by the end of the year. The operator on Wednesday called for reforms to the approval process to safeguard mobile coverage in the British capital.
The closures land in the middle of an integration programme. Vodafone sealed full ownership of VodafoneThree just over a month ago, and merging and modernising the two networks is now the priority. Abandoning existing antenna sites because of bureaucratic hurdles complicates that build-out and adds to the operational workload.
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Ericsson core network and Amazon deals push ahead
None of this has slowed the group’s strategic agenda. In the UK, Vodafone is switching on a modern 5G core network with equipment partner Ericsson, part of an upgrade programme worth SEK 12.5 billion. On the enterprise side, the carrier has secured a partnership with Amazon to supply mobile connectivity, including a Spanish contract covering more than 4,000 mobile connections over a three-year term.
In Germany, Vodafone introduced its “Quality on Demand Network API” on 8 September, giving developers access to dedicated network capacity. The company is also exploring a tie-up with rivals: according to Bloomberg, early talks are under way with Deutsche Telekom, Orange and Telefónica about forming a consortium to bid jointly for European Union satellite spectrum and deliver direct-to-device services from orbit.
Antennas upgraded as data traffic climbs
Closer to home, the operator is upgrading existing infrastructure rather than expanding its footprint. Mobile stations at several locations will gain additional broadband antennas over the coming weeks to absorb data traffic growth of more than 30% in the relevant catchment areas.
Whether those operational wins can push the unresolved financial questions surrounding OXG into the background is the test facing Vodafone in the weeks ahead.
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