Vodafone, Telekom, Orange and Telefonica team up for satellite deal
(Alliance News) - Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange SA, Telefonica SA and Vodafone Group PLC have signed a letter of intent to explore a potential joint bid for European mobile satellite services spectrum.
The telecommunications majors said that the initiative supports the European Commission's ambition to strengthen Europe's sovereignty, security and resilience in critical connectivity infrastructure, and will provide mobile network operators with open access to offer direct-to-direct services for customers.
They said they would offer these services through a model designed to foster competition, reduce market fragmentation and expand consumer choice in Europe. They added that it "could accelerate market deployment, enable efficient use of spectrum and facilitate the seamless integration of satellite connectivity into existing mobile networks."
"The joint initiative by Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Vodafone has a clear ambition: to meet customer demand for universal coverage in underserved areas, strengthen the resilience of public networks, protect critical communications, and support the development of a European constellation," the firms stated. "As part of the project, the four operators plan to establish key ground network infrastructure as well as critical coordination and monitoring functions in Europe, without investing directly in a satellite constellation. This will be provided by a satellite partner still to be selected.
"The partnership between the MNO-led initiative and the satellite operator would combine European governance and market access with proven satellite technology and deployment expertise."
Deutsche Telekom was down 0.9% at EUR25.66 on Monday in Frankfurt. Telefonica was down 1.0% at EUR3.38 in Madrid. Orange was 1.9% lower at EUR14.30 in Paris. Vodafone shares were down 1.3% at 120.45 pence in London.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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