2023 was marked in red on the calendar of telecommunications operators like a year of trucethe end of the promotions and, finally, transfer part of the inflation to the rates they had been charging. At the beginning of the year, the planned script seemed to be fulfilled. Telecommunications operators recorded a record price rise of telephone packages in the historical series (+6.2%) and company changes reduced their intensity with double-digit falls.
However, in recent weeks, the sale of Vodafone Spain to Zegona and the increasing certainty that Digi will obtain an important batch of assets as a condition for the European Commission to approve the merger of MásMóvil and Orange have clouded the good prospects for the sectorwho fears suffering sooner rather than later a new trade war let the prices go down again. The latest data from the consumer price index (CPI) does not invite optimism: The prices of telephone packages fell by 1.3%, the biggest drop in 14 months, influenced by ‘back to school’ promotions.
“We decided to leave Spain because it is a very challenging market,” explained the CEO of Vodafone a few days ago, Margherita Della Valle, when asked about the sale to Zegona. Proof of the “challenging” environment has begun to be seen at this time as the Black Friday and telecommunications operators deploy their promotional strategies to attract new customers, or retain those they already have.
The strategies vary greatly, depending on the brand, and also illustrate the two realities of the Spanish market: a segment premiumwhich resists and manages to raise prices and another focused on low cost and what is known in the sector as ‘value for money’, a kind of mid-range, two fields in which the bulk of the discounts continue to be in the promotional rates .
Thus, operators like Adamo they are coming to offer a fiber optic line together with a mobile line for 10 euros per month for seven monthsas well as free access until December to the LaLiga Hypermotion (Second Division) if its television service is contracted. Finetworkfor its part, has launched its own fiber and mobile offer for 24.90 euros per monththroughout the term of the contractas well as mobile rates of less than 10 euros. Lowifor its part, has increased the amount of data in its rates and will launch special promotions on the digital channel next week.