The European Commission (EC) has greenlit Orange’s acquisition of Spanish fixed-line player Jazztel with conditions.As part of the agreement, Orange will sell a fibre network representing 720,000 building units, largely composed of redundant…
The European Commission (EC) has greenlit Orange’s acquisition of Spanish fixed-line player Jazztel with conditions.
As part of the agreement, Orange will sell a fibre network representing 720,000 building units, largely composed of redundant connections between the existing networks of Orange and Jazztel, Orange said in a statement.
In addition, Orange will temporarily provide the buyer with a wholesale subscription offer to Jazztel’s ADSL network. If necessary, the French telco will provide the buyer a mobile wholesale offer if it does not already have a 2G, 3G and 4G access.
Potential buyers for the assets include regional cablecos Euskaltel and Telecable, as well as TeliaSonera-owned carrier Yoigo and MVNO MasMovil, which has been tipped as a favoured candidate, due to its experience in both mobile and fixed services and its smaller size.
Earlier this month, Spain’s markets and competition authority CNMC asked Orange to share its 4G network with MasMovil, which already rents capacity on Orange’s network, within ten days “as a preventive measure”.
The company said that it expects to generate €1.3bn in synergies from the Jazztel deal through cost savings and network investments.
The operator also aims to deploy fibre to 10 million Spanish households by the end of 2016.
