The telecommunications market in Spain is about to experience a historic change. Movistar, the leading operator in the country, is reportedly planning a major strategic move: acquiring a significant part of Vodafone Spain. This potential agreement would not only have a national impact but also open the door to a more solid expansion by Telefónica in Europe.
However, they are not the only ones interested in this move. Orange, through MasOrange, is watching closely and could enter the operation to take a key piece of the pie.
According to Expansión, Telefónica is already considering with numbers in hand the possibility of acquiring important assets from Vodafone. Although nothing is finalized yet, the operation is gaining momentum. However, it is a large-scale purchase with many regulatory and strategic challenges.
Europe needs large operators capable of competing on a continental scale. Therefore, it is believed that European competition authorities might show some flexibility if it helps consolidate large groups. Telefónica is precisely seeking that: to strengthen its position in Spain to be able to make the leap to Europe with more guarantees.
Movistar wouldn't acquire all of Vodafone
However, it is unlikely that Movistar could acquire all of Vodafone Spain. Such a move would concentrate too much market share in a single company. For example, in fiber optics alone, Movistar has more than 31% and Vodafone almost 14%.
In mobile, Movistar also leads, while Vodafone contributes almost 20%. Together, they would exceed 45% of the market. Although they wouldn't completely break legal limits, it could be seen as an excessive move by regulators.
This is where MasOrange comes into play, the operator born from the merger of MásMóvil and Orange. One of the options on the table would be for it to acquire Vodafone's business division (B2B), which has around 18% of this segment. Since Movistar already dominates nearly 63% of the business market, if it also absorbed that percentage from Vodafone, its control would be excessive.
Allowing Orange to take that part would help balance the market and make the operation more viable. Another possibility would be for Orange to acquire Lowi, Vodafone's low-cost brand. This move would allow Telefónica to keep Vodafone's premium services, while MasOrange would strengthen its presence in the low-cost segment.
Changes are coming
Finally, the debate also opens on how the radio frequencies owned by Vodafone would be distributed. For this operation to succeed, the Government would have to review the current limits and allow a redistribution that includes Movistar, MasOrange, and also Digi.
Therefore, the possible entry of Movistar into Vodafone would mark a turning point in telecommunications in Spain. Meanwhile, Orange wouldn't sit idly by and is already preparing its strategy through MasOrange. If everything goes according to plan, we could be witnessing the birth of a new map of operators.