Tele2 and T-Mobile have announced a 10-year agreement to share mobile antenna sites in the Netherlands to support the roll-out of 4G networks. Tele2 earlier said it expects to need 3,500-4,000 sites for its 4G network, but the company has yet to say when it plans to launch the services. T-Mobile had also been quiet on when 4G services will start, but is now saying it will launch after the summer, starting in Amsterdam. It expects to complete the roll-out in the second half of 2014, suggesting that Tele2 may begin then with its 4G services.
At the same time the two operators extended their MVNO agreement by five years, giving Tele2 access to voice services over the T-Mobile 2G and 3G networks. 4G currently only supports data traffic, and voice over LTE services are still in development.The cooperation between Tele2 and T-Mobile is not that suprising. They already had a wholesale relationship, with Tele2 using the T-Mobile network for its MVNO. The other two mobile operators, KPN and Vodafone were already working together on infrastructure sharing, although they have not shared any of the results of the initial trial in late 2012 or announced a formal expansion.
Tele2 and T-Mobile also have a similar strategy on the Dutch market, focusing on mobile with additional fixed network services. Tele2 has called the Dutch market expensive and under-developed (low speeds), and T-Mobile has tried to position itself as 'smart attacker' - or at least that's what its parent company Deutsche Telekom is aiming for.
This expanded cooperation could prepare the ground for more in future, such as a merger of the two Dutch operators or the sale of T-Mobile's fixed business Online.nl to Tele2. T-Mobile could start using Tele2 for fibre backhaul as well, switching from Eurofiber. It's not yet clear whether the two will also work together on backhaul.
The cooperation is important for the operators and not so much for consumers. Whereas 4G means more efficiency (with higher speeds and lower latency the bonus for end-users), site-sharing means cost savings (with the possible bonus of lower prices for end-users).
It's now a waiting game to see if Tele2 (or T-Mobile?) plans to shake up the market, the same as Free Mobile did in France. CEO Gunther Vogelpoel has said the company is not targeting a market share of just a few percent, suggesting some radical changes in pricing. Still, Tele2 is not a real disruptor in the market, so we are somewhat skeptical it will offer substantially lower prices.
Advantages
The agreement with Tele2 will boost T-Mobile's wholesale revenues thanks to leasing antenna sites. Similar to Orange in France, which offers national roaming to Free, T-Mobile has managed to turn the arrival of a newcomer on the market somewhat to its advantage. This deal means much more to Tele2 though: in addition to costs savings, the company has solved in one go the problem of obtaining antenna sites. Acquiring access to several thousand sites had previously been a time-consuming obstacle to rolling out its network.
It is surprising that T-Mobile is helping an ambitious newcomer get going. T-Mobile may be hoping it can avoid some of the damage and Tele2 will mainly take market share from KPN and Vodafone. Whatever the case, the arrival of a new mobile network operator is a rare occurrence in developed markets and will be followed with interest throughout the world.
