Vodafone Spain and MasOrange have agreed to create a new fibre network company in Spain, operator Zegona has confirmed.
FibreCo will bring together network assets of Vodafone Spain and MasOrange to create a 100% fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network covering 12.2 million premises across Spain.
It will be the largest and most highly developed FibreCo in Europe, with the vast majority of its network already built and a network utilisation already close to 40%.
FTTH services will be provided to 4.5 million Vodafone Spain and MasOrange customers.
FibreCo plans to adopt new technologies such as XGSPON, a 10-Gigabit Symmetric Passive Optical Network, that allows for symmetrical data transfer speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second.
Zegona was established in 2015 by former Virgin Media executives Eamonn O’Hare and Robert Samuelson. Last May it completed the 100% acquisition of Vodafone Spain for €5 billion.
Eamonn O’Hare, Chairman and CEO of Zegona, commented “Entering this FibreCo partnership with MasOrange, alongside our recently announced agreements with Telefonica, transforms Vodafone Spain’s fixed line strategy. The combination will give guaranteed access to a future-proof all fibre national network with attractive economic terms and will enable substantial cost savings across the business. Monetising these two FibreCos is expected to deliver very significant Zegona proceeds, generating the ability to reduce leverage and provide a return of capital to shareholders.”
The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. FibreCo completion together with the introduction of the third-party investor is expected by the end of the first half of 2025.
