Spark New Zealand picked a good time to release its formal objection to the planned Sky Television and Vodafone merger, citing Sky's monopoly on premium sports content rights as a main concern. Any doubts about how the Sky-Vodafone merger would strengthen the hands of both companies needed to be raised now. There would be concern by Spark about how Vodafone could leverage customer growth by tying deals up with Sky's sports coverage. Spark general manager regulation John Wesley-Smith said Spark had already gone on record it was ready to compete with a merged Sky-Vodafone. Forsyth Barr broker Suzanne Kinnaird outlined three key risks facing Spark: continuing price erosion; the Sky/Vodafone combination; and ultra-fast broadband migration.

Source: Otago Daily Times August 16, 2016 18:00 UTC