BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND – Vodafone Spain announced that it has signed an agreement with Orange, a French multinational telecommunications corporation, to co-invest in FTTH 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 fiber (horizontal infrastructure) in complementary geographies. The fiber 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 fiber (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 FTTH 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 fiber deployment efficiencies and maximize 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 fiber 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.”

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