ONO (Spain)
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ONO is a Spanish broadband communication and entertainment company, delivering integrated telephone, television and Internet services to its residential customers. In this segment, it has 3,7 million services contracted and over six million users.

ONO was incorporated in 1998. Before commencing its operations, the company took part in a series of competitive tenders which were called after the coming into force of Spain’s General Telecommunications by Cable Act 42/95. From 1996 to 1998, ONO was awarded the licenses to provide cable television and telecommunications services in the regions of Valencia, Castellon, Alicante, Murcia, Cadiz, Huelva, Cantabria, Majorca and Albacete.

As the company rolled out its own latest-generation network across its regions, users started to enjoy its TV, telephone and Internet services. By the end of 2002, ONO was already present in approximately one in every three homes prepared to receive its services. A year later, it was awarded the license to operate in Castilla – La Mancha and, in 2004, it acquired the telecommunications operator Retecal, covering Castilla-Leon, Spain’s second largest region by geographical area.

In November 2005, ONO closed the acquisition of 100% of the telecoms company Auna Tlc, thereby consolidating its presence as Spain’s leading broadband communications and entertainment company and extending its services to the communities of Aragon, Andalusia (excluding Cadiz and Huelva, which already belonged to ONO), the Canary Islands, Catalonia, La Rioja, Madrid and Navarra.

Company background

According to data from its web page, at the end of First Quarter of 2008, ONO had 1,878 million clients and it has rolled out a next generation network that covers over 6,850,000 homes and business. During the last 12 months, the company has released a total of 414,000 new households, an increase of 6.4% year-over-year.

Services available to clients with cable access as of December 31, 2007 are as follows:

• Fixed telephony: 1,616,000
• Internet: 1,241,000
• Television: 1.011,000

ONO has rolled out its own cable network in Spain. In areas where the operator does not offer its proprietary infrastructure, ONO offer phone and Internet service through ULL technology. Its bidirectional network ensures the very best quality in all services it provides, simultaneously: fixed-mobile convergent phone services, digital television, video on demand and high-speed Internet.

Shareholders' structure

ONO’s main shareholders:

• Multitel (21%)
• CCMP Capital Advisors (15,2%)
• Providence Equity (15,2%)
• Thomas H.Lee Company (15,2%)
• Quadrangle Group (9,1%)
• Grupo Santander (4,5%)
• GE Structure Finance (8,9%)
• Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (6,7%)
• Sodinteleco (4,5%)

History

In 1998 ONO was awarded licences to build its own next generation network in 11 Spanish regions.

• In May 2004, ONO acquired Retecal, a cable operator from Castilla-Leon. Because of its precarious financial situation, ONO decided to help the company with a 30 million euros cash investment so that It could continue operations.

• In August 2005 ONO reached an agreement with Grupo Auna shareholders to acquire its telecommunications unit for 2.2 billion euros. In November 2005, the acquisition is concluded, with the purchase of Auna’s cable unit. Soon after ONO started the integration of both companies, creating Spain’s biggest broadband and entertainment alternative operator to former monopoly, Telefonica.

In the wake of the acquisition of Auna, ONO received the support of venture capital firms ( JP Morgan Partners, Providence Equity, Thomas H.Lee Company, GE Capital Services Structures Finance Group, Inc., Quadrangle Group).

• By the end of 2005, ONO started broadcasting the new DTT channels. • In 2006, ONO had to set an up a redundancy program, affecting around 1,000 workers.

• In December 2006, ONO signs an agreement with Telefonica to use its mobile network, thus becoming a mobile network virtual operator (MNVO).

• At the end of 2007, the company launched “ONO io”, a convergent fix-mobile phone service.

• In 2008, ONO has announced that it is planning to offer broadband access at 100 MB using “docsis 3.02” technology protocol. ONO has invested over 9 billion euros to roll out its network.

ONO corporate services

ONO offers effective communications solutions for any business anywhere in Spain. With its broad range of services, the company covers the communication needs of all its customers, from the self employed, through SMEs and large corporations to public entities and organizations.

Self employed and SMEs call for simple, easily-manageable products at competitive prices. ONO’s product range for them comprises packaged business solutions, such as its Oficinas ONO (ONO office) and NetVoz solutions, providing a highly efficient voice, broadband and managed services communications model.

Solutions for large corporations, with their highly complex communications needs, are delivered in the form of personalized projects. One of ONO’s key missions is to gain unmatched insight into the business realities of such companies, to thereby provide them with effective, tailor-made solutions.

ONO’s broad range of business services can be best summarized as follows:

• Innovative telephone solutions, offering, in addition to basic services (lines, primary services, exchanges and terminals), multiple advanced options. Additionally, with its VoIP services, it seeks to broaden its product range by incorporating multimedia options into everyday communications.

• High-speed broadband services, where quality and reliability are the watchwords.

• Managed services, delivering a wide variety of solutions, such as security, hosting, online backup, ASP tools and e-learning, amongst others.

Additionally, ONO benefits from strategic alliances with leading companies to bolster its commitment to excellence and its ability to effectively provide all manner of services.

ONO residential services

ONO has provided combined telephone, television and internet services since it commenced operations in 1998, making it a pioneer in such services. It implements its own latest-generation cable infrastructure, which provides services to more than 1.8 million direct access customers. The key to ONO’s success lies with the development of ‘triple play’ services. As of March 31, ONO had 604,000 clients with a bundled offer, a 32% of all its clients.

ONO has launched ONO io, the first fixed-mobile convergent phone in Spain for all its residential customers. It offers new smart mobile terminals that allow access to both fixed (at home) and mobile (outdoors) networks, continually optimizing service quality.

Internet

All Internet customers can surf the web at speeds of :

• 6 Mbit/s / 300 kbit/s
• 12 Mbit/s / 500 kbit/s
• 25 Mbit/s / 1 Mbit/s
• 50 Mbit/s / 3 Mbit/s
• 100 Mb/s / 5 Mbit/s

ONO also offers “Essential broadband access”, a product particularly designed for those new to Internet, with 2 MB access speed and no downloading limitations. ONO was the first Spanish operator to launch a truly flat-rate Internet services, in June 2000: 24-hours a day, year-round, at an affordable price.

Television

Thanks to ONO’s technology, based on a powerful fiber optic network that guarantees the broad bandwidth assigned to each customer, it is possible to enjoy different contents on different TV sets throughout the home.

Ono has been the unquestioned pay TV audience leader for over 20 months, with a share of over 7%.

ONO also offers OJO, a service that allows customers to choose when and how to enjoy all manner of content, with the advantage of being able to pause and return to it, fast forward, rewind and view the images as often as they want. OJO provides ONO’s digital TV customers with access to a vast range of free content.

Fixed phone service

ONO offers an all-included package for fixed line customers, with free domestic calls to all fixed line numbers (up to 60 minutes per call). There is no monthly charge for the line rental.

Mobile phone service

The mobile market in Spain is open to all operators since February 2006 through the mechanism of mobile network virtual operators (MNVOs). ONO requested before the CMT (Spanish regulator) a license to operate as an MNVO and signed an agreement with Telefonica to use its mobile network, becoming the fourth operator with a quadruple play offer in Spain: fixed phone, mobile phone, Internet and TV. Other quadruple play operators include Telefonica, Orange and Euskaltel.

With ONO io, its convergent fixed-mobile service, ONO offers big savings for all its users.

ONO is a pioneer in the launching of real fixed-mobile convergent phone services. ONO has decided to extend its flat rate – currently for calls to all fixed lines in Spain- to all phone calls among ONO clients, both fixed and mobile, and free of charge. At home, it allows up to six simultaneous and independent phone conversations at no cost and with the best possible quality. And outdoors, and thanks to a single personal terminal, ONO io allows its customers to enjoy all mobile services (voice, SMS, MMS, data…) at very competitive rates.

Coverage and rates

To see if a home has ONO coverage, visit ONO website

For further information, visit ONO website ONO

Main competitors

Fixed telephony:

• Telefonica
• Orange (a France Telecom unit)
• Ya.com (a former Deutsche Telekom unit, recently acquired by France Telecom)
• Jazztel
• Tele2

In broadband access:

• Telefonica
• Jazztel
• Orange
• Ya.com
• Comunitel

In pay-TV services:

• Digital+
• Imagenio (Telefonica)
• Jazztelia (Jazztel)
• Orange TV (Orange)
• Ya.comTV (Ya.com. It suspended service on November 17 2007)

External links

• Main website