55 spent 71 million euros to take control

"Yoigo. This is the name of the fourth Iberian mobile operator, launched Friday by TeliaSonera. With a network 3 G to 800 antennas provided by Ericsson, which covers only 25 of the population (Madrid, Barcelona and 6 other cities) and a staff of 120, Yoigo may nevertheless provide national coverage using the 2 G network to rival Vodafone, with which it has concluded a roaming agreement. In addition, Yoigo will initially use the 400 shops of The Phone House to distribute its terminals. Follower of a model "low cost", it subcontracts the deployment and maintenance of the network, logistics and customer service.

20 Cheaper rates

Yoigo starts with a very aggressive business strategy, announcing fares more "transparent" and 20 less on average than those of the competition: a single tariff of 12 eurocents per minute, both prepaid and package, whatever network (fixed or mobile), the hour, day, and the networks used.

On the other hand, for each call received by its clients, Yoigo will charge 17 cents to the owners of used networks operators.

The first five years the operator plans to invest EUR 1 billion and 650 jobs. The network should cover 40 of the population in 2008, 50 in 2011 and 95 in fifteen years. A positive cash flow is promised in five years. Objectives: less than 1 of the market end of 2007, and 10 by 2015. Average revenue per customer is expected to "short term" 30 euros per month and the gross operating margin 30 "long term".

Yoigo is 76.6 owned by TeliaSonera, 17 by the MGB ACS group, 3.4 by FCC, and 3 by Telvent. In June 2006, the Finnish-Swedish operator, who then controlled 16.55 spent 71 million euros to take control. Under the name of Xfera, he had won in 2000 the 4th Spanish UMTS licence, but had never opened its network. Initially, Hutchison Whampoa and Vivendi also were part of the consortium, before withdrawing. TeliaSonera said that the economic model has "improved", the "significant" drop in equipment and the availability of mobile 3 G

"high quality at reasonable prices.

But the operator comes on a market already well equipped. Penetration exceeds 100: 45 million numbers (for 44 million), of which 46 for Movistar (Telefonica), 31 for Vodafone and 23 for Orange. Among them, only 2.7 million are clients 3 G (65 for Vodafone, Movistar 26 and 9 in Orange). But according to the WCL, the "Constable" sector, 61 new customers picked up from the first ten months of the year (1.2 million) have opted for the 3 G.

Number portability

This is added the arrival of an avalanche of operators virtual, including distribution: Carrefour already operates in the sector, with aggressive tariffs, through an agreement with Orange, while El Corte Ingles and Alcampo negotiate respectively with Telefonica and Vodafone.

To facilitate the sector, the CMT will facilitate number portability by dropping the time for change of operator of 10-15 days to 4 days. In five years, 9.2 million customers already benefited, with a positive balance of client 770.000 for Vodafone and from 374.000 to Movistar, while the ex - led (Orange) recorded a net loss of more than 1 million customers.