Telefónica and Vodafone today announce a wide-ranging strategic programme to share mobile network assets across selected European operations. As part of the collaboration, Telefónica and Vodafone are actively exploring opportunities to cooperate in related areas such as the provision of transmission services. Telefónica and Vodafone will use the agreements to aid the roll out of their respective networks, enhancing service quality for customers in the longer term.
The infrastructure sharing initiatives are broadly expected to enable both companies to
- Offer enhanced quality of service levels within the network footprint to improve customers’ mobile experience as well as support the delivery of services such as mobile broadband to a greater number of customers across a wider coverage area
- Reduce the environmental impact of the network by lowering the number of sites required by each company
Reduce network operating costs - Continue to manage their traffic independently
- Jointly build new sites where opportunities exist
Under the programme, customers in these selected markets can expect to benefit from long-term improvements to coverage, particularly for services such as mobile broadband. By reducing network costs, both companies will be able to continue to invest in developing innovative products and services for customers.
The joint building of new sites and/or consolidation of existing 2G and 3G mast sites, with one site housing the equipment of both companies where previously two would have been used, is expected to lead to a significant reduction in the total number of masts in operation and reduced environmental impact, compared to both companies expanding their networks separately.
[via phonemag]
