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The deal could help offset Vodafone’s struggling performance in the highly competitive Spanish market
According to reports from Bloomberg, Telefónica has approached Vodafone on several occasions in recent months to discuss potential deals related to the companies’ Spanish broadband networks.
The potential deal could take the form of a wholesale agreement, a partnership, or the transfer of Vodafone’s clients onto Telefónica’s fibre network.
Vodafone have yet to comment on the proposal, with Telefónica’s Chief Operating Officer Angel Vila noting that “the ball is now in their court”.
It is possible that the proposal has come as a result of Vodafone’s new CEO Margharita Della Valle launching a review of Spanish operations back in May, saying that “structural change”, including a full or partial sale of the unit, was a possibility. Following this announcement, Telefónica revealed its interest in discussing a potential deal between the two companies’ Spanish fibre networks.
In recent years, Vodafone’s operations in Spain have been strongly impacted by the highly competitive nature of the country’s telecoms market. Ruthless competition with MasMovil, Orange, and Movistar has seen all of the operators locked in a seemingly perpetual price war, keeping profits painfully low.
During the 2023 fiscal year, Vodafone had the highest decline in mobile service revenue at 5.4%, noting that competition in the mobile value segment “remained intense”.
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