Renta 4 | According to the German newspaper Handelsblatt, Telefónica is considering strengthening its cooperation with 1&1 in Germany.
In mobile telephony, 1&1 is the fourth largest operator with a market share of 8.9%, behind Deutsche Telekom (32%), Telefónica (27.2%) and Vodafone (22.5%). In broadband, 1&1 is the third largest company in terms of market share (10.7%), behind Deutsche Telekom (40.6%) and Vodafone (27%). Telefónica is in fourth place with 6.4%.
1&1 has been developing its own network (of just 1,200 antennas) for several years and, until June 2025, rented Telefónica’s network (28,000 antennas). Two years earlier, 1&1 announced that it would stop renting Telefónica’s networks after reaching an agreement with Vodafone.
With yesterday’s stock rally, 1&1 has a market capitalisation of €3.96 billion. Adding net debt of €1.609 billion, including rentals, its enterprise value reaches €5.569 billion.
Assessment: We consider this news to be credible. Telefónica’s business has suffered significantly in Germany since the loss of the contract with 1&1, and we believe that Telefónica would be interested in achieving greater scale by integrating a company such as 1&1, which has significant market share and with which it could obtain synergies by optimising its networks, considering that 1&1 aims to reach 12,500 towers by 2031e. Recently, Telefónica also replaced its CEO in Germany, presumably to facilitate greater ‘collaboration’. P.O. €4.50. HOLD.
