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Spain Regulator To Force Mobile Operators To Allow MVNO</span></span>
MADRID -(Dow Jones)- Spanish telecommunications industry regulator CMT Friday said it will force the country's mobile operators to share their networks with mobile virtual network operators, or MVNO.
The CMT said in a statement that the existing operators - Telefonica Moviles, Vodafone and France Telecom's Amena - must offer reasonable prices and conditions to any company that intends to launch an MVNO business in Spain.
An MVNO operator 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.
Earlier this week, the European Commission endorsed the CMT's plan to boost MVNO in Spain, saying that similar programs in other countries "have shown that the entry of MVNO" can increase competition and lower prices in mobile telephony.
The CMT has earlier 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 AB (TEL2-B.SK) to launch MVNO services in the country.
Regulator's Web site:
http://www.cmt.es
-By David Roman, Dow Jones Newswires; +34 913 958 125;
david.roman@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires