Vodafone in Spain turns to regulator to secure Formula 1

Pedro Peña

Vodafone España has appealed to the countries telecom regulator, the CNMC, to force Telefónica to make its coverage of Formula 1 available.

According to local reports, citing Vodafone executive Pedro Peña, Telefónica has refused to make the motorsport coverage available to rival players until July, when it will make its premium services available to third parties – something it is required to do as a condition of its acquisition of the former Canal+ España.

Vodafone has called on the regulator to determine how, when and under what conditions it should be able to access Telefónica’s content. However, the CNMC has four months to provide a response, frustrating Vodafone’s attempts to make Formula 1 available to the 2,000 or so of its subscribers that have requested it.

The operator has complained that Telefónica has been slow to fulfil its obligation to make content available and has suggested that the regulator has been insufficiently vigilant in pressing it to do so.