Vodafone slams Spain fibre optic network ruling

SANTANDER (Reuters) - A recent ruling by Spanish telecoms regulator CMT to allow Telefonica to deny competitors access to its new fibre optic network hampers sector competition, Vodafone’s head of its Spanish unit Francisco Roman said Tuesday.

"The regulator’s decisions ignore the economic inviability of rolling out sufficiently extensive fibre optic networks in Spain," Roman said at a sector conference in Santander.

Vodafone is calling on the CMT to oblige Telefonica to open up its fibre optic network to its competitors’ television and Internet products at a regulated price.

The CMT surprised markets in early August with the fibre optic network ruling and justified its decision by arguing that obliging Telefonica to open up the network could dissuade operators from investing in alternative networks.

Vodafone acquired operator Tele2’s operations and 260,000-strong ADSL client base in Spain last year for over 200 million euros (162.7 million pounds).

"Vodafone Espana expected a positive CMT ruling on access to new networks when it acquired Tele2’s Spanish operations," Roman said.

"We have invested hundreds of millions of euros to be in this market," he said, adding that the change in regulation could hinder the company’s development of its ADSL business in Spain.

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