Vodafone Portugal strikes network sharing deal with NOS
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Vodafone Portugal strikes network sharing deal with NOS

Vodafone has struck a deal that will see its Portugal operation partner with NOS to deploy and share a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network connecting 2.6 million premises.

The partnership will see Vodafone Portugal gain access to 1.3 million homes and businesses in new areas using fibre builds on NOS’s current cable footprint as well as its existing fibre assets, increasing its footprint from 2.7 million to around 4 million.

The deal will see each part deploy links between the central office and the fibre backbone, equipment and CPEs, but not share them. Management of customer activations and connections will also be independent of each other.

It means Portugal is the latest country to receive a significant fibre investment from Vodafone group. In September Vodafone made a €2bn (£1.76bn) commitment to building an ultra-fast internet network in Germany.

Marketing of services across the joint network will commence from the beginning of calendar 2018, Vodafone said, with both firms maintaining “complete autonomy and flexibility in respect of their respective retail offers”.

“The agreement is consistent with Vodafone Group’s fixed infrastructure strategy, which aims for an optimal mix of build, strategic partnerships, wholesale and buy approaches,” Vodafone added in a statement. “As a result of this strategy, Vodafone can already market high-speed services to 98 million homes across Europe, and this agreement extends this to over 100 million.”

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