Telefónica and Allianz have reached an agreement for the creation of a joint venture to deploy Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) in Germany.Both companies will each hold 50% under a co-control governance model. It will be an independent open-access wholesale operator focused on deploying fibre in rural and semi-rural areas of Germany to tap the potential of Europe’s largest broadband market.
Banco Sabadell | Telefónica is in the final stages of negotiating an agreement to set up an independent company, which would be responsible for the deployment of a fiber optic network in Germany. The investment in the project is about 5 billion euros. Telefonica would structure the project through its subsidiary Telefonica Infra, which plans to sign an accord with an infrastructure fund and a group of financing banks around the end of October.
The consortium participated by Telefonica, along with its two rivals Mexico’s América Móvil and Italy’s TIM, has qualified as a stalking horse or first bidder in the race to buy Brazil’s Oi’s mobile business. The qualification as first bidder gives the consortium the right of first refusal if a higher competitive offer is made.
As of today, Telefónica’s 5G network is available in all the autonomous communities, with outstanding hyperconnectivity in European terms as a result of its combination with fibre optics. According to Telefónica chairman José María Álvarez-Pallete “5G will bring huge benefits for Spain. This is a golden opportunity for our country to lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution”. This move will enable 75% of the Spanish population to obtain access to this new technology by the end of the year.
Telefónica presents its proposal for a Digital Deal in Spain. In line with the 2018 Manifesto, the deal promotes the establishment of game rules adapted to the new post-COVID reality to avoid inequalities in the digital world. Spain’s digital reinvention could have an annual impact of approximately 1.8% of GDP until 2025.
Spanish telecommunications’ giant Telefonica, together with Italy’s TIM and Mexico’s Claro, have tabled a 2.706 billion euros joint offer for the assets of Brazil’s Oi, the fourth largest telco in Brazil. This bid is 10% over the minimum auction price of 2.5 billion euros required by the company. Telefonica is market leader in Brazil with a share of 33% followed by TIM and Claro, with 24% each.
Telefónica and SAP Spain have announced an agreement to promote business cloud computing services, both in the form of private cloud from Telefónica’s Infrastructures as a Service in Madrid (IaaS), and in the public cloud (SaaS). Amongst the main milestones of the partnership between the two firms is the conversion of Telefónica’s data centre into the first in Spain to offer private SAP cloud services.
Telxius, Telefónica’s infrastructure subsidiary, will carry out a capital increase of 1.5 billion euros to buy towers from Telefónica Deutschland. Telxius will finance 90% of the acquisition via a capital increase – which will be subscribed by current shareholders in proportion to their stake – as well as internally generated resources. The remaining 10% will be financed through incremental debt.
The agreements include the creation of a single 3G and 4G network in cities with less than 30,000 inhabitants and the implementation of a single 2G technology network throughout the country. These measures will enable Telefónica’s Brazilian subsidiary to extend its coverage to 400 new cities in the first year of the contract.
Telefónica has finally reached an agreement with Liberty Global to merge its UK businesses, O2 Holdings and Virgin Media UK respectively, and form a 50/50 joint venture. The merger would make the new group the UK market leader with a 34% market share compared to BT’s 32%. This integration is the largest transaction in Telefónica’s history. Whatsmore, it will always be remembered for having happened in the midst of the restrictions determined by the confinement in the two countries.