THE REPUBLIC has an "underdeveloped" fixed line market which could offer O2 opportunities for providing fixed line broadband, according to Matthew Key, chief executive of the European division of O2's parent company, Telefonica.
Although the Republic has a competitive mobile market with four networks, it also has "a problem with an underdeveloped fixed market", he said, in a briefing with journalists at Telefonica headquarters in Madrid. O2's strategy in the Republic is to consider how to provide the appropriate infrastructure for the Irish market and to broaden the product sets it offers. "These could be a combination of mobile and broadband, and even fixed broadband," he said.
Telefonica, which has operations in Latin America, Europe and China, provides fixed line broadband in other markets. Its overall broadband market in Europe grew by 18 per cent last year, said Key.
Chairman and chief executive Cesar Alierta predicts the firm will generate additional revenue of about €40 billion — or 37 per cent of its current market capitalisation — over the next three years.
Some of that revenue would likely be used to buy up to 10 per cent of China Unicom to increase Telefonica's footprint in the growing Chinese market, he said.
Telefonica already owns nearly 3 per cent of the company due to its stake in ChinaNet, which is now part of China Unicom. Yankee Group has predicted 21 per cent growth in the Chinese mobile market over the next three years.
