O2 and Vodafone to share network infrastructure

Telefónica and Vodafone say customer service will be improved with infrastructure sharing deal

Mobile providers Telefónica - the owner of O2 - and Vodafone have announced a plan to share mobile network infrastructure across Europe in a bid to save “hundreds of millions of Euros” over the next decade.

The agreement will see the mobile giants working together in areas such as provision of transmission services in the UK, Germany, Spain and Ireland. Ongoing discussions are also taking place in Czech Republic.

Telefónica and Vodafone hope their agreement will improve customers’ mobile experience as well as support delivery of services such as mobile broadband to more customers across a wider coverage area.

As well as reduced operational costs, the companies claim the partnership will also help minimise the environmental impact associated with rolling out services.

The current business climate will force mobile operators to look at different ways to serve customers, said Telefónica Europe chief executive Matthew Key.

“This industry-leading collaboration means that Telefónica and Vodafone will continue to compete strongly against each other in local markets, while giving our customers enhanced mobile coverage in more places, using fewer mast sites,” said Key.

“We are actively exploring additional areas for co-operation and, by reducing our costs in areas of the business that customers don’t see, we can ensure that we invest in areas they truly value.”