Digi confirmed the rumors this Tuesday. She will be the main beneficiary of the assets derived from the merger between Orange and MásMóvil.
The Romanian operator has agreed to pay more than 120 million euros in exchange for an access contract to the wholesale mobile electronic communications network, which will allow it to access all the technologies available on the Orange Spain mobile network or its subsidiaries, including MásMovil and Ibercom, in Spain, at an advantageous price.
In addition, it will take ownership of 60 megahertz of mobile network spectrum for the provision of new 5G technology services, as reported in a relevant event on the Romanian stock exchange.
“The transfer of spectrum licenses and the granting of the option are subject, among others, to the transaction between Orange and MásMóvil,” the statement warns.
After this communication, the clock of the merger that was stopped last July by the competition authorities of the European Union while waiting for Orange and MásMóvil to present a convincing project to get rid of a sufficient number of assets is started again. to guarantee competition in the Spanish market and ensure the presence of a fourth operator.
Thus, the thesis defended from the beginning of the operation by the EU Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, of not authorizing the merger without the two companies involved giving up part of their assets to guarantee a competent market in Spain is imposed.
Until last summer, both Orange and MásMóvil defended that their merger did not imply cuts in competition in a market like Spain, with the largest number of companies in the sector in all of Europe. It was the same line that Telefónica had also defended, despite the fact that the merger ousted it from the position of the leading operator in the market.
With the agreement, confirmed early this morning, Digi is reinforced as the fourth operator, thus winning the battle for low-cost telephony in Spain after leading one of the most powerful rises in the market, placing itself as the fifth operator, once fourth in Europe. official authorization for the merger.
The resolution of the merger between Orange and MásMóvil is the turning point that the entire European telecommunications sector has been waiting for to design the mergers that are considered necessary. The large operators were confident that Vestager’s departure from the Competition Commission would serve to relax the strict criteria that he has applied during his mandate. But it doesn’t seem like that’s going to be the case.
The priority of guaranteeing competition and the existence of low prices, as is Digi’s commitment, will continue to prevail over large operators that demand less competition to ensure sufficient income to make it possible to undertake the necessary investments to extend 5G technology. in the old continent.