Bucharest, October 25, 2023 – by rbj – (Source Agerpres) – The French telecommunications group Orange and the Spanish operator MasMovil have selected the Romanian operator Digi to take over the assets that Orange/MasMovil intends to sell in Spain, in order to calm concerns Brussels- he dreamed of the competition on this market.
Digi will take over the assets that Orange and MasMovil intend to sell in Spain
In July, Orange and MasMovil announced an agreement to combine operations in Spain, a merger that reduces the number of operators in Spain’s highly competitive phone market from four to three. The new entity would be a joint venture owned in equal proportions (50-50) with a combined value of almost 19 billion dollars and would be the second largest telecommunications operator in Spain, after the leader Telefonica.
The European Commission is concerned that the Orange/MasMovil merger could reduce competition on the Spanish market. To address Brussels’ concerns, phone companies planning to merge have solutions such as selling assets or improving access to make the new networks interoperable with those of rivals.
According to sources cited by Reuters, Orange and MasMovil intend to sell part of the spectrum, a division responsible for customer relations and a brand, as well as to offer Digi access to the infrastructure.
In recent months, Orange and MasMovil, which competes with Telefonica and Vodafone in the Spanish market, have been in talks with several potential buyers of these assets, including Digi, Avatel and other smaller rivals.
The Romanian operator Digi has rapidly expanded on the Spanish market, since the start of operations on this market in 2008. At the end of the first semester of this year, Digi had over 5.7 million customers in Spain.
