MADRID, March 15 (Reuters) - Competition among cellphoneoperators in Spain intensified in January with a record 633,616cash-strapped users switching mobile companies in search ofcheaper offers, data from telecoms regulator CMT showed onFriday.
Another quarter of a million mobile customers abandonedtheir cell phones entirely in January, the sixth consecutivemonth of lines being terminated as rising unemployment and adeepening economic recession hit Spaniards.
Spain's Telefonica and Britain-based Vodafone each lost over 100,000 mobile clients to cheaperoperators like Teliasonera's Yoigo and so-calledvirtual mobile operators.
Virtual operators have no infrastructure of their own butrent capacity from established providers, selling services on toconsumers.
Telefonica fared better with its internet service, adding 27,920 lines in January thanks to a competitive bundledinternet, phone and TV package, but was still behind alternativeinternet operators, which added 30,090 lines.