Orange has added to criticism against Telefónica’s dominant market position in Spain voiced earlier by Vodafone.
Speaking at the 29th Telecommunications Meeting organised by Ametic and quoted by El Economista, Jean Marc Vignolles, the CEO of Orange Spain, said that Telefónica’s 85% share of the content business could affect other segments such as mobile and broadband. He also called on the regulator CNMC to update the regulation in content to take into account the market reality and at a pace to avoid the risk of monopoly.
Vignolles argued that the Spanish market is unique in Europe and criticised the conditions imposed by the CNMC on Telefónica’s acquisition of Digital Plus as being insufficient.
At the same time, Vignolles was upbeat about the prospects for Orange. Though still a small player in the TV market with only 150,000 subscribers, it was the only player besides Telefónica to grow in the last year, seeing its TV customer base increase by 50% in the year to June 2015.
Furthermore, this total will grow exponentially once Jazztel’s 2 million customers gain access to the Orange platform.