Vodafone, Orange Team on Spanish FTTH

MADRID -- Vodafone Spain announces today that it has signed an agreement with Orange to co-invest in fibre to the home deployment in Spain, with the intention to reach 6 million households and workplaces across 50 major cities by September 2017. Under the terms of the agreement, Vodafone and Orange will each deploy street-level fibre (“horizontal” infrastructure) in complementary geographies. The fibre will be owned independently but will share the same technical specifications to ensure compatibility as a single network, and each partner will have guaranteed access to the whole infrastructure. The companies will also each deploy their own in-building fibre (“vertical” infrastructure), guaranteeing access to each other, and will together request access to any third party vertical infrastructure. Vodafone and Orange will provide Spanish consumers with a world-class fibre to the home network, commercially available from January 2014, reaching:

800,000 households and workplaces by March 2014;

3 million households and workplaces by September 2015; and

6 million households and workplaces by 2017 – a residential penetration level of around 40%. The combined capital expenditure required to reach 6 million households and workplaces is expected to reach €1 billion. Vodafone and Orange believe the agreement will increase fibre deployment efficiencies and maximise returns on investment for both operators. The agreement is also open to third parties willing to co-invest. The companies will work with regulators to ensure:

Sharing of vertical infrastructure at prices based on actual cost;

Effective access to Telefónica’s ducts to facilitate rapid mass deployment of horizontal infrastructure; and

Measures to obtain necessary administrative permits in a timely manner. Vodafone Chief Executive for the Southern Europe region, Paolo Bertoluzzo, said: “I am delighted to announce our plans to work with Orange to deploy fibre networks across Spain. This agreement demonstrates Vodafone’s commitment to provide high-speed unified communications services to our customers coupled with our willingness to invest when there are positive returns.” Vodafone Group plc France Télécom – Orange