The Spanish units of Vodafone and Orange are reportedly set to share their mobile network infrastructure, as they look to cut costs in a move which mirrors that of rivals Telefonica and Yoigo last year.
The operators have been working out the terms of…
The Spanish units of Vodafone and Orange are reportedly set to share their mobile network infrastructure, as they look to cut costs in a move which mirrors that of rivals Telefonica and Yoigo last year.
The operators have been working out the terms of the cost-cutting partnership over the last few weeks and will initially share 2,000 towers, local newspaper Expansion reports.
The telcos will decommission around 1,000 towers each in less populated areas and share their infrastructure.
Last year Vodafone and Orange – Spain’s second and third largest mobile operators – agreed to build a €1bn fibre network together to better compete with Telefonica.
They also face competition from cableco Ono and fixed-line Jazztel, which operate MVNOs and added a combined 1.4 million mobile subscribers last year. Meanwhile Vodafone lost more than 800,000 while Orange added a modest 75,000, according to data from ADSLZone.
A similar sharing arrangement between Telefonica and Yoigo has come under scrutiny. In November Spain’s competition regulator, the CNMC, opened proceedings against the two operators due to concerns that it violated the first article of the country’s antitrust act.
Article 1 focuses on collusion. It prohibits any agreement or efforts that may prevent, restrict or distort competition in a market.
The statute covers issues such as price fixing, the limiting or controlling of distribution, giving preferential treatment to one of your competitors over another, and conditions in contracts that impede competition.
