Vodafone Group has kicked off another €500 million ($546m) share buyback program.

The carrier announced earlier today (August 7) that it will commence a share repurchase program of ordinary shares until November 29, 2024.

The program is being run by Goldman Sachs.

Earlier this year, Vodafone said it would return €4 billion ($4.37bn) to its shareholders, following the sale of its Italian and Spanish units.

The carrier sold its Italian unit to Swisscom for €8 billion ($8.7bn), while it completed the sale of its Spanish business to UK investment firm Zegona for €5 billion ($5.4bn) in May.

Vodafone began its return to shareholders in May, with an initial €500 million ($546m) share buyback. It wants to return €2 billion ($2.18bn) to shareholders this year.

Earlier this week, a deadline for a decision on the company's planned £15 billion ($19bn) merger with Three in the UK, was put back until December. Initially, the deadline for a decision was September 18, before being pushed back to October 12, a month later.

The CMA launched its Phase 2 investigation into the merger, which is poised to create the UK's biggest mobile network operator, back in April.