Currently the third and fourth biggest mobile operators, the merger would see the creation of a mobile giant with 27 million customers.
The resulting company, following a successful merger, would have around 27 million mobile consumers in UK
Total available mobile spectrum in the UK will increase by about a fifth after the auction
Three claims its network is now back up - but that subscribers may need to turn devices off and on again to restore services
EE complains that Three's adverts, claiming that "If it's not Three, it's not real 5G", are misleading.
Three UK's 5G plan includes speed boosts for existing 3G and 4G infrastructure as it replaces Samsung 4G radio-access technology with Huawei
UK debut for Xiaomi on Three will come with free Band 3 fitness tracker
The country's main mobile network operators - EE, O2, Vodafone and Three - have launched bids for 5G spectrum
Auction being kicked off earlier than expected