GO has formally raised concerns about Melita’s proposed acquisition of Epic, warning that the deal would significantly reshape Malta’s telecommunications landscape if it clears regulatory review.

Melita announced this week that it intends to purchase all shares in Epic, formerly Vodafone Malta, from majority shareholder Monaco Telecom. The two companies said the combined operator would deliver stronger coverage and greater capacity to invest in next-generation networks. No transaction price was disclosed.

Based on Malta Communications Authority figures from March 2025, Epic held 42.2% of mobile subscriptions and Melita 22.4%, giving a merged entity a combined share of 64.6% against GO’s 35.4%. That would leave GO as the sole competing nationwide mobile network, facing a rival nearly twice its size.

The proposal has precedent. In 2017, Melita and Vodafone Malta announced plans to merge, prompting the Office for Competition to open an in-depth investigation into the deal’s effect on mobile services competition. The companies later abandoned the merger after failing to satisfy the authority’s requirements. Vodafone Malta was subsequently acquired by Monaco Telecom and rebranded as Epic in 2020.

The current proposal also carries implications for fixed broadband. Epic has built a smaller home internet business alongside the established networks of Melita and GO, and the Malta Communications Authority noted in a January 2026 decision that Epic’s entry had intensified competition and applied meaningful pressure on both larger providers. Absorbing that independent presence into Melita would remove one source of that pressure entirely.

Melita and Epic argue that combining resources would enable investment at a pace and scale neither could achieve alone. No specific spending commitment, timetable or detail on customer pricing and contracts has been announced.

GO indicated it is following developments very closely. The takeover still requires formal regulatory approval and informal government backing before it can proceed, meaning Malta’s competition authorities face the same essential question they confronted seven years ago: whether promised network investment outweighs the structural risk of reducing three nationwide mobile operators to two.