Spain Regulator Sees MVNOs Launch By Year-End Or 2007

MADRID -(Dow Jones)- Spain's telecommunications industry regulator CMT expects the first mobile virtual network operators, or MVNO, in the country to launch services by the year-end or early 2007, a CMT spokeswoman said Thursday.

Confirming earlier press reports, the spokeswoman said CMT Chairman Reinaldo Rodriguez made the comment Wednesday, during a press conference in Barcelona.

She added that the CMT is mulling measures to force Spain's current mobile operators - Telefonica Moviles, Vodafone Group and France Telecom's Amena - to open their networks to MVNO.

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.

The spokeswoman said the CMT is waiting for the European Commission green light on its proposed guidelines. The regulator submitted a report with guidelines last month, and the Commission has a month to suggest any amendments.

After the Commission returns the report, the spokeswoman said, the CMT will announce any precise measures. She added that such measures "will likely be of a technical nature."

The first draft of the report, posted last summer on the CMT's website, said the regulator is looking to break what it called their "collective dominant position" and improve competition in the market.

Currently, operators aren't required to share their networks, which has frustrated attempts by companies such as Sweden's Tele2 AB 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

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Posted to the site on 19th January 2006