Agree that the Voda-Sky merger makes even more sense now than ever before.
But another attempt would predictably be protested by the other telcos...it should get through this time (one would think) but not sure if Infratil would be keen to go through the whole process. No guarantees!
A merged telco + content aggregator service company could offer even better pricing.
https://www.vodafone.co.nz/tv/vodafo...dband-package/
As it stands, if you have mobile with Vodafone you get an extra $10/month off your Vodafone TV sub.
So even if you subscribed to the 'Premium' option you can get all Sky TV channels + UFB for $186.66 per month (about $6 a day - which aint too bad).
If you just want Sky's entertainment offering it is more like $4.75 a day all in. And if you just want their Sport package then your combined internet + sports cost is about $4.80 per day.
The merger had so much potential, and consumers would have absolutely been better off compared to the current situation. With alternative entertainment options such as Netflix, Amazon Prime etc it was unlikely that Voda-Sky would have ever been able to price gouge.
I think the big blocker for the Comcom was the 'sport monopoly'. Well, Spark sure played them for fools!