Spain’s communications regulator CNMC has approved the deregulation of the country’s market for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) first proposed back in July last year. In a statement, the regulator said the European Commission and Spain’s industry and economic ministries had submitted no observations on its proposal to eliminate the obligations imposed on network operators Telefonica, Vodafone and Orange to provide a “reasonable” access to their mobile infrastructure to the 30 or so MVNOs present in Spain, which have a joint market share of around 15 percent. The rise in popularity of the MVNOs “has intensified competition in the fixed and mobile electronic communications market, allowing fixed operators to become MVNOs and offer convergent packages,” said the CNMC. The corresponding obligations will be removed within six months of the publication of the decision in the official state gazette.
The CNMC reiterated that its analysis revealed that market deregulation won’t necessarily lead to an increase of anticompetitive practices on the part of the incumbent network operators. It will, however, retain the ability to intervene in the event mobile network operators unjustifiably withdraw access to their networks or put into practice more sophisticated strategies, such as a rise in wholesale prices or offers that can’t be replicated by the MVNOs.
