Spanish carrier Telefónica has signed a long-term network agreement with telco Digi.

The agreement, effective from January 1, 2025, will last 16 years and builds on an existing deal between the two set to expire at the end of this year.

The agreement means that Telefónica will extend its provisioning of national roaming and RAN-sharing services to Digi, an MVNO that offers mobile services through an agreement with Telefónica.

"With this new agreement, Telefónica increases its sustainability by ensuring a long-term revenue stream in line with the existing one. At the same time, the fixed broadband wholesale agreement has also been extended," said Telefonica.

"For its part, Digi benefits from efficient and cost-effective use of its new spectrum assets," it added, referring to Digi's acquisition of frequencies in the 1,800MHz, 2,100MHz, and 3,500MHz bands from MásMóvil last year, which allowed MásMóvil and Orange to complete their merger.

Digi will use this spectrum to build its own mobile network, eventually becoming a fourth operator in Spain.

Since launching in the country back in 2008, Digi now has close to six million customers in Spain, as of the first half of this year.