It is also the largest mobile operator in Latin America.
Vodafone is the largest mobile operator in Europe by market value and sales.
The deal would have transformed Three from the smallest to the biggest mobile operator in the UK.
TracFone, a carrier he owns in the U.S., is now the fifth-largest mobile operator in the country.
But the decision by EE, the biggest mobile operator in Britain, to phase out unlimited packages has drawn blunt criticism.
Simon Gordon, a spokesman for Vodafone, the largest mobile operator in Europe, declined to comment on the plan.
The radio spectrum is the most vital resource for a mobile operator in today's world of modern wireless communications.
In 1999 he sold a robust version of the original program to SFR, which is the second-largest mobile operator in France.
Mr Jobs also confirmed that Cingular, the largest mobile operator in the US, has been chosen as the exclusive iPhone partner in America.
EE, the owner of T-Mobile and Orange, is currently the only mobile operator in the UK with enough spectrum to offer 4G capability.
Vodafone slipped 1.1p to 192.9p despite Telefonica Deutschland - the third largest mobile operator in Germany - agreeing to buy the fourth largest player E-Plus for around €8bn.
