Vodafone and Telefonica partner up in 4G progress

European mobile telecommunications giants Vodafone and Telefonica today announced that they will consolidate much of their 2G and 3G network transmission infrastructure in Germany, Ireland, Spain, and the UK as the two companies roll out their 4G technologies.

As a cost-saving and environmentally conservative measure, the companies have agreed to consolidate their existing cellular masts and antennas where opportunity allows, and also by building new sites that will house the equipment of both carriers.

In Spain, both companies already have a site share agreement, which included some 2,200 locations where power, cabinets, and antennae are shared. This sort of agreement will now extend into Ireland and Germany where both companies will be able to utilize the other's network sites, effectively doubling the coverage of each. In the UK, new sites will be constructed for the companies to share in addition to consolidation of those already in existence.

"We are actively exploring additional areas for cooperation and, by reducing our costs in areas of the business that customers don't see, we can ensure that we invest in areas they truly value," said Matthew Key, CEO of Telefonica Europe.

Vodafone has already committed to LTE as its 4G standard, while Telefonica's roadmap for future networks (PDF available here) is much more nebulous. While it has showed favor for HSPA Evolved as its all-data network in the near term, it lists LTE / SAE (System Architecture Evolution) as a possible next step.