Spanish communications and competition regulator CNMC is preparing to apply strict limits on the aggressive football-related offers launched by Telefonica in recent weeks, according to unnamed sources cited by El Confidencial. At the end of June the operator announced that it will add prime Spanish and European football games to its Movistar Fusion+ packages in a bid to attract more subscribers to its most popular convergent offers. In fact, starting in August subscribers to the basic 30 Mbps fibre or ADSL Fusion+ offer will be able to watch eight La Liga games per match day while the operator’s 300 Mbps symmetric fibre offer will come with European Champions League and Europa League games in addition to La Liga.
However, the CNMC is set to announce that it will be applying far stricter criteria to ensure that rivals such as Vodafone and Orange can replicate the market leader's offer. The replicability test will now take into account the net present value (NPV) of the offers, including football packages, to calculate the maximum permissible discount. Under the new calculation method, the report indicates that Telefonica would only be allowed to discount its EUR 75 a month Movistar Fusion 20 plan (EUR 900 a year) by a maximum of EUR 90 a year rather than the current maximum discount of EUR 180.
The proposed changes come over a year after the CNMC approved Telefonica’s acquisition of DTS, or Digital+ as it is also known, to give the company control of around 80 percent of Spain’s pay-TV market. At the time, the CNMC said it would require Telefonica to offer rivals 50 percent of the content of the premium channels broadcast on both Canal+ and Movistar TV, including Champions League and La Liga football, as well as Formula 1, Moto GP and other exclusive live sports events.
