Telephony operator changes set record for price war

Telephony operator changes set record for price war

The portability of lines exceeded 10 million transfers in 2018 for the benefit of the smaller firms, while the competition for the football packages defined the changes in the sector

  The strategy that many citizens have in mind for opting for a change of telephone company to get better prices and extended services is permeating a sector that sees how the portability of lines is more than the order of the day. In 2018 alone, almost 10 million operator transfers were recorded , which is a record , the highest level in history, according to the updated data from the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC). Of all these portabilities, 75% correspond to mobile lines and the other 25% to fixed lines. In both cases, also with maximums.

  In a market full of offers, counteroffers, customized solutions, extended packages and all kinds of strategies carried out by companies, 7.5 million mobile telephony portabilities were registered , representing an increase of 15% compared to the data from the previous year. In this strong upturn appears Másmobile protagonist . This operator has already done 12.6% of the market, consolidating as the fourth group after winning almost 1.75 million lines. At the end of 2018, the CNMC accounted for 6.7 million lines, although the company itself confirmed a few days ago that it has reached the seven million mark. His records include those of Lebara.

For its part, Telefónica won over 422,000 lines last year, reaching 16.1 million. The historical operator, through Movistar, has almost a third of market share. Behind is Orange, with almost 26% of the total after losing 152,000 lines. In the case of virtual mobile operators (MVNOs), they already approach 8% of the total.

The third operator by number of customers is Vodafone, which has suffered a decline during the last months to register a 23.5% market share. During the past year, Vodafone lost 408,000 lines and closed the year with 12.5 million. The Spanish subsidiary of the corporation of British origin is immersed in the negotiation of an Employment Regulation File (ERE) whose initial approach would mean that some 1,200 workers could leave the company , almost a quarter of its staff.

For months, mobile telephony registered in October the best period in terms of portability, with 708,000 changes, a historic maximum. In December, on the other hand, the lowest number of transfers of lines between operators was recorded, with 538,000.

In the case of fixed telephony, strong competition among telecommunications operators meant that 2.3 million portabilities were reached in the 2018 set. In December, 184,888 fixed numbers were registered, slightly less than the 189,169 in November and 4.1% less than in the same month of the previous year.

These movements will be closely related to the 'football war', one of the incentives that companies have to attract competitive customers. The decision of Vodafone not to acquire the rights to issue the Champions League and the League of La Liga this season sparked this summer a commercial battle between operators to attract customers, mainly in the months of August and September, which has led to record levels of operator changes.

In its latest report, the CNMC notes that the mobile telephony sector closed the last month of the year with a fleet of lines of 53.4 million, which is 2.8% more than in December 2017, after winning 53,230 lines regarding November. In addition, he adds that machine to machine (M2M) lines exceeded 5.8 million lines, representing 19% more.

The park of mobile lines that offer voice services with mobile broadband closed December with a total of 43.9 million lines, which is 4% more than in the same month of 2017, after adding 81,186 new lines compared to November .

Regarding fixed telephony, the report of the National Commission of Markets and Competition indicates that it remained practically stable in the last month of the year with a total of 19.12 million lines.

The total of fiber optic lines to the home (FTTH) exceeded 8.5 million in December, after adding 129,132 lines compared to the previous month, of which 3.9 million correspond to Telefónica, 46% of the total. In year-on-year terms, FTTH lines added two million new additions, while DSL technology lost 1.3 million lines.