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Spanish Regulator Sees Several Potential MVNO Entrants</span>
MADRID -(Dow Jones)- Several companies with operations in Spain are looking to become mobile virtual network operators, or MVNOs, the chairman of the country's telecommunications regulator CMT said Monday.
Speaking at a business event, Reinaldo Rodriguez said the CMT expects Spain's conventional mobile operators - Telefonica Moviles, Vodafone Group and France Telecom's Amena - to reach agreements with prospective MVNOs within the next few months.
Rodriguez didn't say which companies are looking to launch such operations.
He added that the CMT's plan to boost MVNO launches in Spain, by forcing mobile operators to share their networks under reasonable prices and conditions, will come into force next week at the latest.
An MVNO leases all, or most, of its capacity from other operators and then sells it on to customers, saving the cost of building and maintaining a network.
Rodriguez said that the regulator is willing to let MVNO and conventional operators discuss terms and conditions and will only step in to facilitate an agreement following a request from one of the two parties.
The CMT has said it expects the first Spanish MVNO to launch services by the end of the year or early 2007.
At present, Spanish mobile operators aren't required to share their networks. This has frustrated attempts by companies such as Sweden's Tele2 to launch MVNO services in the country.
Regulator Web site:
http://www.cmt.es
-By David Roman, Dow Jones Newswires; +34 913 958 125;
david.roman@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires