Vodafone teams up with Netflix ahead of October launch in Spain

Telecoms operator Vodafone is partnering with Netflix, the streaming media giant, to start offering Spanish users its film and TV content as of October.

This will make Vodafone the first operator to fully include the popular US-based company’s content as part of its own offer, said Antonio Coimbra, CEO for Vodafone Spain.

Vodafone Spain CEO Antonio Coimbra described the situation of pay TV in Spain as “an oligopoly”

While Netflix will be included in several telecoms platforms when it premieres in Spain, full integration has only been agreed with Vodafone TV. Elsewhere, it will function as a separate channel, though with significant discounts from the original price for independent subscribers.

Netflix already has over 65 million subscribers in 50 countries, where it offers on-demand streaming content that can be viewed on a variety of devices, including PCs, cellphones, tablets and smart TVs. The company boasts about offering “more than 100 million hours of TV shows and movies per day.”

Fighting Movistar +

The deal is Vodafone’s way of dealing with the competition, particularly from Telefónica, whose TV service Movistar+ has a significant head start thanks to the content the company acquired after buying the private network Canal+.

Vodafone Spain’s CEO described the situation of pay TV in Spain as “an oligopoly” because Telefónica, the former state-owned telephone company, handles 85 percent of revenues.

English version by Susana Urra.