Telefónica has achieved its best portability data in 25 years. It’s a sign that something is changing.

Between July and September, Telefónica has achieved 80,000 net additions due to portability – mobile and landline combined –, the highest figure since this mechanism was implemented in 2000, according to the latest data reported by Expansion.

The data continues to go bankrupt for a quarter of a century, losing customers almost uninterruptedly. Since May 2024, the operator has had 17 consecutive months of positive results in mobile, a streak that it only shares with Digi.

Why is it important. Portability measures who best understands what the user wants and who executes it. It’s not statistical noise: it’s money, market share and retention capacity.

Telefónica had been the big natural loser of the system for decades—it came from a monopoly so it had the largest base as well as the highest prices—but now it reverses the equation. Something has changed, either in its proposal or in the market. Or both.

The figures:

• In mobile, Telefónica has added 64,000 net lines in the quarter, compared to 45,000 in the same period of 2024. So far this year, it has accumulated 135,000 new lines, almost ten times the 14,000 in the first nine months of last year.
• In fixed terms, it achieved 16,000 quarterly registrations, its best historical record, and has had a positive six months.

It is the first time that it has achieved two consecutive quarters of winning in both markets at the same time.

The contrast. If Telefónica and Digi grow, MasOrange and Vodafone sink:

• MasOrange has lost 138,000 mobile lines in the quarter – 438,000 so far this year, 50% more than in 2024.
• Vodafone gave up 91,000 lines in the third quarter and 272,000 in the accumulated annual period.
• Digi, for its part, adds 177,000 quarterly registrations, 21% more than a year ago, and leads the acquisition with 605,000 lines gained between January and September.

Between the lines. The market is polarizing:

• Telefónica retains and attracts the premium customer, who values ​​service, network and stability over price.
• Digi sweeps the segment low cost pure, where only the cheapest rate matters.
• The operators in the middle—MasOrange with its cheap legacy brands, Zegona’s Vodafone dragging problems from the past—they lose on both sides.

Yes, buteither. MasOrange faces a structural problem: many of its brands—MásMóvil, Yoigo, Pepephone, Simyo—have customers who are hypersensitive to price, willing to jump at the first cent difference.

Vodafone, for its part, still bears the consequences of quit football in 2018a decision that caused a mass exodus and from which it has never fully recovered. Now add the uncertainty of Finetworkin pre-contest and losing 48,000 lines in the quarter.

The backdrop. To find a quarter similar to Telefónica’s current one, you have to go back to 2018, when Vodafone left football and the historic operator gained 66,000 net lines. But that was temporary, a gift from the competition. This is different: Telefónica has been winning in mobile for 17 months without any rival having made a catastrophic mistake. It is sustained improvement.

Small virtual operators are also beginning to disappear from the map. In the third quarter they have lost 11,000 net lines, compared to the 9,000 they gained a year ago. Digi is sweeping them away. The market is simplified: the big ones with the muscle to invest in the network remain (Telefónica, MasOrange, Vodafone) and the disruptor low cost (Digi). The rest, adrift.

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Featured image | Telephone