JupiterResearch: Telia Sonera in Spain

Thomas Husson at JupiterResearch posts that "Telia Sonera has announced to have increased its stake in Xfera to 80%. Xfera was awarded in 2000 the 4th Spanish 3G license but never rolled-out its UMTS network. Telia Sonera will thus launch its mobile activities in Spain under the existing license agreement." Husson writes:

It sounds like the Spanish market is moving towards an increasing competition. Amena was acquired last year by France Telecom and the CMT (the Spanish telco regulatory body) recently stated the need to launch MVNOs. None of them have launched so far but cable companies (Ono, Jazztel,...) or retailers (El Corte Ingles) could well contemplate investing the space.

It is also a sign of Telia Sonera's growing internationalization strategy. However, the company will not benefit from the the first-mover competitive advantage 3 had when it entered the Italian and UK market 3 years ago. Consequently, it will be interesting to have a look at their marketing strategy to see how they will differentiate their offerings from that of established players.