The company said yesterday it will launch the services in Spain’s seven biggest cities on Wednesday, beating off rivals Orange and Yoigo.
Vodafone Spain chief executive Antonio Colmbra told a news conference in Madrid it will offer the service for up to €10 more than current 3G rates, and it is thought availability of the technology will give operators a competitive boost in a highly congested market.
The operator has recently been hit by its subscribers leaving the Vodafone for cheaper alternative providers, and its market share fell to 25.7% in March, from 28.6% a year earlier.
TeliaSonera owned Yoigo said at the start of this month it would launch 4G services in July this year, with no additional charges to its 3G offering, while Orange claimed it would launch the same service in Spain ten days before Yoigo.
Spain-based Telefónica said it would look to launch something this summer, “either alone or with another operator”, reports Reuters.
Rumours in the country suggest Telefónica will look to partner with Yoigo to use its 4G network as it does not have access to 1800Mhz frequencies.
Telefónica declined to comment.
