{"id":50902,"date":"2025-01-23T16:07:35","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T16:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/get-involved\/gsma-membership\/?post_type=gsma_theme_resources&p=50902"},"modified":"2025-04-01T12:13:38","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T11:13:38","slug":"how-consolidation-is-reshaping-spains-telecoms-market-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"gsma_theme_resources","link":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/get-involved\/gsma-membership\/cn\/gsma_resources\/how-consolidation-is-reshaping-spains-telecoms-market-in-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"How consolidation is reshaping Spain\u2019s telecoms market in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Luke Kehoe<\/a>, January 13th, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spain continues to lead Europe in fibre rollout, but lagging mobile performance undermines country\u2019s overall telecoms competitiveness<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dynamism of Spain\u2019s telecoms market stood out among its European peers last year, with a flurry of mergers reshaping the market\u2019s structure and strong investment in next-generation networks, supported by targeted government initiatives, improving outcomes for Spanish consumers. However, while increased fibre and 5G penetration have driven notable year-on-year improvements in overall network performance, Spain\u2019s international competitiveness in telecoms remains highly imbalanced between its fixed and mobile infrastructure.

The country\u2019s credentials as Europe\u2019s preeminent fibre leader remain intact. In 2024, Spain ranked among the top three in the EU for fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) coverage (95.2%) and the share of fixed broadband subscriptions providing download speeds above 100 Mbps (93.5%), according to the latest edition of the European Commission\u2019s \u2018State of the Digital Decade<\/a>\u2019 report. This continues to position the country significantly ahead of some of the bloc\u2019s largest economies, most notably Germany, which still lags in FTTP coverage (28.8%) due to a slow shift away from cable networks.

Analysis of Speedtest Intelligence\u00ae<\/a> data reveals that median fixed download speeds in Spain increased from 173.32 Mbps to 210.46 Mbps between 2023 and 2024. This trend of improvement was mirrored across other fixed network performance metrics, with upload speeds increasing in the same period from 129.62 Mbps to 155.53 Mbps. In Q3 2024, DIGI achieved a median fixed download speed of 321.21 Mbps in the Spanish market, followed by Jazztel (273.18 Mbps), Orange (262.78 Mbps), Yoigo (255.74 Mbps) and Movistar (180.30 Mbps).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"pic<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Having achieved exceptionally high levels of FTTP penetration across urban, suburban and rural areas\u2014placing Spain among the top three in the European Commission\u2019s DESI 2024 Index<\/a> for FTTP coverage in sparsely populated rural areas\u2014the focus in Spain is shifting toward enhancing quality of experience (QoE) in core use cases such as gaming and video streaming. Despite boasting higher FTTP coverage and take-up rates, Spain ranks below countries like France in Ookla\u2019s Speedtest Global Index\u2122<\/a>. This disparity highlights the influence of factors such as Wi-Fi technology\u2014France has a higher penetration of Wi-Fi 6 and 7 in ISP-provided CPE\u2014and tariff provisioned speeds, with a larger share of fibre customers in France subscribing to multi-gigabit plans, on fixed broadband performance.

DIGI\u2019s strong fixed download speed performance in Spain, detailed in Ookla\u2019s Speedtest Connectivity Report<\/a> for 1H 2024, is underpinned by similar favourable factors. Notably, it was first to market in Spain with a 10 Gbps service, fully leveraging its XGS-PON fibre infrastructure. With highly competitive pricing\u2014starting at just \u20ac20 per month for 1 Gbps and \u20ac25 per month for 10 Gbps, including Wi-Fi 6 CPE as standard\u2014DIGI has quickly secured a significant share of multi-gigabit capable connections in the Spanish market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"pic<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In addition to highlighting the importance of modern CPE and higher tariff-provisioned speeds, DIGI\u2019s business last year exemplified the accelerating consolidation trends in Spain\u2019s highly overbuilt and fragmented fibre market. The acquisition of DIGI\u2019s fibre infrastructure by a Macquarie-led consortium, which solidified wholesale specialist Onivia\u2019s status as the largest of the \u2018neutral\u2019 FTTP networks in Spain, dovetailed with developments such as Telef\u00f3nica\u2019s BlueVia wholesale spin-off, the emergence of M\u00e1sOrange and Zegona-controlled Vodafone\u2019s \u2018FibreCo\u2019 tie-ups with both Telef\u00f3nica and M\u00e1sOrange.

As observed in other European markets with significant fibre overbuild<\/a>, such as the alt-net model in the UK, consolidation is a slow and challenging process. However, Spanish operators continue to pursue it to enhance the economics of their fibre investments in highly overbuilt urban areas, unlocking scale and resources to capture future growth in rural areas where overlapping infrastructure is less common. This begins with small local operators\u2014of which there are hundreds\u2014being absorbed by \u2018local consolidators\u2019. These are then integrated into the infrastructure portfolios of regional consolidators, ultimately leading to acquisition by one of the largest traditional players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"pic<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This gradual process of consolidation is reshaping the fibre business model in Spain, as traditional operators separate their infrastructure and service units to support the growth of wholesale offerings. The coming year will provide some insight into whether a consolidated third player can successfully compete and coexist alongside the vertically integrated Telef\u00f3nica and M\u00e1sOrange in the long-term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>M\u00e1sOrange is vying for network leadership in Spain, founded on a significant spectrum advantage<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The winds of consolidation have swept through the Spanish mobile market too, culminating last year in the European Commission\u2019s approval of a 50:50 joint venture between M\u00e1sM\u00f3vil and Orange. The merger has pole-vaulted the newly formed \u2018M\u00e1sOrange\u2019 into a leading position in the market, both in subscription and spectrum share. To secure regulatory approval from Brussels, the merging entity committed to divesting 60 MHz of spectrum, including 20 MHz in the 3.5 GHz band, to facilitate the entry of DIGI as a fully-fledged independent mobile operator, effectively restoring the Spanish market to a four-player structure and \u2018exerting a strong competitive constraint on the joint venture\u2019.

In addition to diversifying its portfolio of brands through the merger\u2014with Orange and Yoigo catering to the premium segment, Jazztel and M\u00e1sM\u00f3vil focusing on value for money and regional brands like Euskaltel and Telecable serving local needs\u2014M\u00e1sOrange hopes its consolidated spectrum assets will enable it to achieve network leadership in the Spanish mobile market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"pic<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The merged entity\u2019s consolidated network will be primarily based on Orange\u2019s infrastructure, complemented by M\u00e1sM\u00f3vil\u2019s existing site portfolio and the deployment of new greenfield sites. The integration of M\u00e1sM\u00f3vil\u2019s network, which relies entirely on mid- and high-band spectrum and has historically depended on a national roaming agreement with Orange, creates a natural synergy for the merged entity. It enables the integrated network to leverage M\u00e1sM\u00f3vil\u2019s capacity and density in urban areas alongside Orange\u2019s extensive coverage and nationwide reach.

M\u00e1sOrange is particularly focused on vying to unseat Movistar\u2019s dominance in the premium segment, a position it has long upheld thanks to its emphasis on superior network quality. Movistar emerged as the fastest mobile operator in the Spanish market in Ookla\u2019s Speedtest Connectivity Report<\/a> for 1H 2024, delivering the highest median download speeds of 82.68 Mbps.  This placed Movistar significantly ahead of Orange (56.42 Mbps) and Yoigo (36.73 Mbps).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The merged entity\u2019s spectrum advantage is heavily weighted toward mid- and high-bands, which are typically utilised for 5G deployments in urban and suburban areas. According to data published by M\u00e1sOrange<\/a>, it holds 37% of all mid- and high-band assets in the Spanish market\u2014compared to 28% and 26% for its closest competitor, Telef\u00f3nica\u2014giving it a unique opportunity to enhance 5G speed performance and gain a competitive edge.

Movistar has maintained its strong 5G speed performance with a 100 MHz allocation in the 3.5 GHz band, but this is now overshadowed by MasOrange\u2019s expanded allocation of 170 MHz. Capital investment by the merged entity in upgrading the 5G RAN to support advanced carrier aggregation (CA) capabilities and the standalone (SA) architecture will enable it to fully realise the performance benefits of wider channel bandwidth through the extensive deployment of its 3.5 GHz spectrum across its consolidated mobile site grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"pic<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To establish network leadership in coverage, however, M\u00e1sOrange will need to move beyond its spectrum advantage and focus on increasing the number of physical sites in rural areas within its integrated network. In Q3 2024, Vodafone and Movistar recorded 4G Availability of 95.1% and 93.4% respectively in the Spanish market, followed by Orange at 92.7% and Yoigo at 91.5%.

In parallel to M\u00e1sOrange\u2019s network consolidation journey, DIGI is building out its own infrastructure to gradually wean itself off dependence on a national roaming and RAN sharing agreement with Telef\u00f3nica (which DIGI selected over M\u00e1sOrange, despite both being options under the merger conditions), starting with urban and suburban areas. The European Commission designed the spectrum divestment remedies to position DIGI to replicate the competitive pressure previously exerted by M\u00e1sM\u00f3vil. The goal is for DIGI to carry a similar share of its total mobile data traffic on its own network in the coming years, at least matching the 40-60% on-net share that M\u00e1sM\u00f3vil achieved pre-merger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"pic<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

More broadly, it is hoped that the substantial long-term investment commitments from DIGI and M\u00e1sOrange, driven by the consolidation activity, combined with government support through programmes such as Unico, will bolster Spain\u2019s international competitiveness in mobile performance in the coming years. The country has significant catching up to do, ranking 57th in the Speedtest Global Index at the end of 2024 and trailing most of its European peers across a suite of network performance metrics, including download speed, consistency and coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luke Kehoe, January 13th, 2025 Spain continues to lead Europe in fibre rollout, but lagging mobile performance undermines country\u2019s overall telecoms competitiveness The dynamism of Spain\u2019s telecoms market stood out among its European peers last year, with a flurry of mergers reshaping the market\u2019s structure and strong investment in next-generation networks, supported by targeted government […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"image":null,"json":{"gsma_resources_type":"Press 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