The Euskaltel Group and Telxius have reached an agreement which will allow the telecommunications group leading the market in the north of Spain, to use the almost 11,000 telecommunication sites owned by Telxius in Spain. As a first result of the agreement, Euskaltel has already made a commitment to use a minimum of 100 towers of Telxius.
With this agreement, Euskaltel will substantially increase the potential sites with which they will be able to expand the scope of their own 4G mobile network, allowing them to use these facilities for mobile telephony, wireless access solutions in rural areas and specific access solutions for businesses.
The Chief Executive Officer of Euskaltel, Francisco Arteche, said that, “For the Euskaltel Group, reaching an agreement with a company with the potential of Telxius is a major step in our strategy to focus on the development of our own network and to have technological alliances with leading international companies in the sector. This agreement goes beyond an agreement for sites, it has produced an alliance of willingness to collaborate together that strengthens us in our strategy of value creation for our society, our clients and our shareholders.”
For his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Telxius, Alberto Horcajo, said that, “In Telxius we are really happy to have reached an agreement with Euskaltel, who is, without a doubt, a reference in the telecommunications sector in the north of Spain. The agreement is a very important step in the consolidation, development and optimization of our service capabilities in the tower business, and also, we hope to find new opportunities that will enable us to further strengthen our leadership as an infrastructure company.”
About Telxius
Telxius, created in 2016, is the new global telecommunications infrastructure company of the Telefónica Group, whose aim is to capture the exponential increase of data traffic expected in the coming years. With nearly 16,000 telecommunications towers in five countries, Telxius has one of the largest tower catalogues in the market among independent infrastructure companies, making it the market leader in Spain and Germany and one of the main industry suppliers in the sector in Brazil, Chile and Peru.
With an international high-capacity cable network, Telxius manages a 65,000 km network of submarine fiber optic cables connecting Europe and America, 31,000 km of which are owned by Telxius. It includes, among other infrastructures, SAM-1, the submarine cable system which has connected the United States with Central America and South America since the year 2000, PCCS (Pacific Caribbean Cable System), which connects the US, Puerto Rico, Curazao, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador, and Unisur, which connects Uruguay and Argentina. It is expected that BRUSA, the new offshore cable measuring nearly 11,000 km and connecting Brazil, Puerto Rico and the US, will be operational in 2018, as well as MAREA, a cable which will link the United States and Europe, in partnership with Microsoft and Facebook.
About the Euskaltel Group
The Euskaltel Group is a leading telecommunications operator in the north of Spain, offering its services to a market of 5 million people, serving 800,000 residential customers and businesses in the Basque Country – through Euskaltel – and Galicia – through R – respectively. Euskaltel and R lead fiber optic services (Broadband, Telephony, Pay TV and converged telecommunication services) in the Basque Country and Galicia, with a solid customer base and complementary business models. The Euskaltel Group has its own 4G license in the Basque Country and Galicia, and also has the largest fiber optic network deployed in its market.