Digi is planning a 5G rollout in Portugal using licenses won licenses in 2021
Romania-based Digi Communications’ Portugal subsidiary has agreed to purchase Nowo Communications from MasMovil for $164.8 million. It’s a notable development as just a month ago, the country’s competition authority Autoridade da Concorrencia (AdC) prohibited Vodafone Portugal’s own proposed takeover of Nowo, citing the potential for “significant impediments to competition and consumer harm.”
Digi’s acquisition is still under review and is, like Vodafone’s proposal, subject to regulatory approval. If approved, Nowo’s holding company Cabonitel will pass the brand over to Digi as it kicks off its 5G rollout in Portugal using licenses it won in 2021 set aside for new market entrants.
This newcomer status is critical for Digi because it means the deal will likely be approved. Nowo is also a new player and it’s for this reason that AdC felt Vodafone — notably not a new entrant — should not have access to Nowo’s acquired 5G spectrum. To address this concern, Vodafone actually offered to sell this spectrum to Digi; however, this ultimately was not enough to convince the agency.
In addition to the set-aside spectrum, Digi in 2021 acquired 40 megahertz in the 3.6GHz band. Nowo also has 40 megahertz in the 3.6GHz, as well as frequencies in the 1800 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands. It currently claims about 270,000 mobile customers and 130,000 fixed accesses in Portugal, Digi said in a statement.
