MasMovil on Monday announced that it has purchased some fibre network assets from Orange’s Jazztel and brokered a wholes ale agreement for copper xDSL network access, deals that it says will allow it to become Spain’s fourth national operator.
The telco did not share a price tag, but said it would provide more detailed information once the European Commission has approved the deals.
The transactions fulfil the terms of Orange’s recent €3.4 billion acquisition of Jazztel.
The Commission gave the takeover the green light on the condition that the merged entity divest fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure covering 700,000-800,000 households in five major cities – Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, Seville and Valencia – and grant wholesale access to the Jazztel ADSL network for eight years.
MasMovil this week confirmed that it has agreed to acquire fibre-optic networks in 13 centres in major cities covering around 720,000 households.
It also said it has been granted wholesale access "at a preferential rate" to Jazztel’s entire copper network, allowing it to offer xDSL services to 18.6 million households in 78% of the Spanish territory. The deal is valid for four years with a possibility for a four-year extension.
"The agreements – if approved by the European Commission – will allow MasMovil to establish itself as the fourth national operator with integrated service offering," the telco said, in a statement.
MasMovil has operated as an MVNO for the past seven years, using Orange’s network. It agreed to merge with business services operator Ibercom last year, giving it some presence in the fixed market.
It was also keen to point out that it owns an LTE network in 26 provinces, including major cities. It acquired its 4G capabilities in May through the €27.1 million acquisition of Neo, which holds a 3.5-GHz licence.
MasMovil’s deal with Orange is not good news for Yoigo. The TeliaSonera-owned mobile operator has been struggling to compete in Spain due in no small part to an increased appetite for converged services. It has a network-sharing deal with Telefonica that has given it some presence in the fixed sector, but it is not sufficient to enable it to keep up with its rivals; Telefonica already has a strong presence in both markets, Orange has snapped up Jazztel, and Vodafone completed the acquisition of cable operator Ono a year ago.
Yoigo was named as a possible buyer of the Jazztel fibre assets, but last month reports in the Spanish press claimed the telco had pulled out of the race. The telco informed Orange that it was not interested in the wholesale DSL access portion of the proposition, because the technology is obsolete and would not allow it to provide convergent services, news agency Efe said.
MasMovil clearly disagrees.
"Leveraging the capabilities and assets acquired, the group can clearly improve efficiency, ensuring a phase of profitable growth," it concluded.
