A Nowo dilemma
Vodafone has moved to buy Nowo, eliminating a competitor in the future 5G market. The deal creates a new dilemma in the telecoms sector, which the regulators will have to resolve.
Vodafone wants to buy Nowo, but the heart of the deal is not the fixed network, nor even the customer base. The logic of the operation lies in competition and in the future 5G market. And that is why it will keep the regulators busy in the coming months.
The 5G auction, which ended almost a year ago, opened the sector’s doors to two new companies with their own networks: Nowo, which already sells 4G services on another operator’s network, and Digi, which had no presence in Portugal. Vodafone believes the Portuguese market is hardly big enough to accommodate four operators (Meo, Nos, Vodafone and Nowo), let alone five (Digi).
AI translation from the Portuguese. First published in ECO on 21 October 2022.