Orange Spain unveils LTE tariffs as price war deepens

Orange became the second Spanish operator to announce LTE pricing in Spain, as both it and rival operator Vodafone Spain also cut mobile tariffs in an increasingly difficult competitive environment.

Orange Spain said its new LTE plans will be available from June 24, with prices starting at €23 under its existing "Whale" and "Dolphin" tariffs. The LTE prices are therefore only €1 more than existing tariffs, which reflects a general price overhaul by Orange Spain.

Orange's actual LTE services will still be available as previously planned on July 8, when it will offer LTE in six Spanish cities: Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Malaga and Murcia. Nine more cities will be added by the end of the year, and LTE will then be rolled out to all major cities in 2014, the operator said.

Vodafone Spain became the first operator to roll out LTE services in May, while Yoigo has also said it will roll out services on July 18.

All four Spanish operators, including Telefónica, are hoping that LTE and multi-service bundles, such as Movistar Fusion, will help revive their fortunes, but the moves by Orange as well as Vodafone to cut mobile prices illustrated the continuing pressures on the recession-hit market. Vodafone Spain also said this week that it would eliminate permanent contracts for clients not requiring a handset and cut prices for customers on its "Base" tariffs, along with other measures.

According to Reuters, Spain's telecoms regulator CMT said more than half a million people switched operator in April and almost 3 million clients have changed provider since December.

For more:
- see this Reuters article
- see this release (translated via Google Translate)
- see this separate release (translated via Google Translate)

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