OXFORD, United Kingdom—Having originally planned to launch third-generation (3G) services in Spain in the later part of this year, Vodafone has now placed any deployment plans on hold for at least two years. The company said it has not forecast significant revenues for Spanish 3G services this year, so any delay would not have a noticeable impact on Vodafone’s financial results.
Part of the reason behind this move, according to the company, is the Spanish government’s decision to issue too many 3G licenses. Vodafone’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Julian Horn-Smith said the Spanish market could support three or four 3G operators, but requested that the telecom ministry admit that only two GSM operators in the country are currently profitable.
“Vodafone intends to offer a combination of GSM, GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and the 3G services in a move to gradually introduce packet-based services,” added Horn-Smith.
The company has recently attracted criticism in Spain by changing the name of Airtel, the country’s second-largest cell-phone operator, and replacing it with Vodafone. Horn-Smith defended the name change by claiming that it is part of the process of deployment of a single Vodafone brand worldwide.
