Vodafone cuts Spanish FTTH investment targets following Ono buy

Vodafone Group revealed that Vodafone Spain and Orange Spain have amended their agreement to co-invest in fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) to 3 million homes and businesses across Spain by September 2015.

About 15 months ago, Vodafone Spain and Orange Spain agreed to co-invest to deploy FTTH networks to reach 3 million premises by September 2015 and 6 million premises in 50 cities across Spain by September 2017 (see "Vodafone, Orange partner for FTTH in Spain").

Following Vodafone’s acquisition of Ono, which was announced in March 2014 and completed this month, the two companies have agreed that the total number of homes and businesses to be jointly accessed by the two companies will remain 3 million overall. However, Vodafone will now provide Orange with wholesale access to 1 million homes via the Ono network, rather than via newly deployed fiber-optic network infrastructure.

The collective build by the two companies will now use FTTH to reach 2 million premises across Spain. As the joint deployment has already reached 800,000 premises across 12 Spanish cities, this means that the companies will jointly deploy fiber to an additional 1.2 million premises in areas where the Ono high-speed fiber network is not present by September 2015.

The amended agreement also provides a mechanism for Vodafone and Orange to provide each other with wholesale access to future FTTH deployments across Spain on a reciprocal basis.

Philipp Humm, Vodafone's CEO of Europe, said, "Our partnership with Orange Spain complements our acquisition of Ono, ensuring a highly efficient deployment of high-speed broadband and bringing more competition to the Spanish market."

No mention was made of the 6 million target by 2017.

For more information on FTTx/access systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.