Altice Portugal's CEO said in an interview with Lusa that there are "multiple operators" expressing interest in using the company's fiber network in Portugal and will only sell the fiber if "it is a good deal".
"We have multiple operators expressing interest in using our infrastructure in Portugal, the wholesale market is indeed booming in Portugal," said Alexandre Fonseca, when asked about the fiber sales dossier.
The interest expressed by the company's fiber optics "is positive and makes us more aware of the sale theme," continued the manager.
That is, "if we were selling the fiber and there was no stakeholder from the point of view of using these infrastructures, it was a scenario," he said.
"What happens today is a very different situation from what we had a year ago, today we have more stakeholders that began to appear in the purchase, even being in the final stage of negotiation," he said.
On August 6, at a meeting with journalists, Altice Portugal's chief executive said that there were two concrete proposals to buy the company's fiber optics, but that the operation would only materialize if it was "a good deal."
"There have been more operators interested in buying, more mutual funds wanting to buy the fiber and then there has been more demand from users, from operators who can use the infrastructure," he said, noting that the group is not under pressure to sell.
The dossier is being managed by the parent, with the active involvement of the CEO.
"We will only sell the fiber if it is a good deal," he reiterated.
Asked about the state of play of SIRESP - Portuguese Emergency and Safety Network Integrated System, Alexandre Fonseca stressed that "the State is expected to take over the participation of Altice Portugal and Motorola on December 1st."
"We are looking forward, the agreement is signed, we are quietly awaiting" the demarches begin, he said.
In mid-June, the Council of Ministers approved the purchase, for seven million euros, of private operators, Altice and Motorola, in SIRESP.
"Altice Portugal and Motorola will remain service providers of the SIRESP network," said the manager, who on Tuesday attended the Total Telecom Congress in London.