Telefonica wins internet clients in Nov, mobile exodus continues

* Telefonica's package attracts 45,000 broadband clients * Vodafone leads mobile client losses, sheds 287,000 * Virtual operators, Orange, winning out in price war MADRID, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Spain's biggest telecoms company,Telefonica S.A., attracted 45,000 new broadband clientsin November in its home market but shed another quarter of amillion mobile customers as recession-hit Spaniards ditch theircellphones. The company which is fighting to stem client bleed byintroducing a bundled internet, phone and TV package in Octoberhas lost over 2 million mobile connections following its Marchdecision to stop subsidising smartphones. Data from Spain's telecoms watchdog released on Wednesdayshowed Telefonica gained more broadband clients than all itscompetitors put together, with cable operators gaining 6,000 newcustomers and other operators attracting 36,000 clients. However, Telefonica's mobile operator Movistar lost around252,000 customers in November. "The mobile sector recorded another month of seriouscustomer losses, with a decline of 452,804 connections,"telecoms regulator the CMT said in a statement. The November numbers were slightly better than October, whenTelefonica led operator losses by shedding 284,000 mobilecustomers. November's figures for losses in the sector were slightlybetter than a record loss of 486,000 mobile clients in October. In November, Vodafone lost 287,000 mobile clients,taking the lead from Telefonica, and the Britain-based operatoris in talks with labour unions to dismiss up to a quarter of its workforce in Spain. Cheap operators like Teliasonera's Yoigo andvirtual mobile operators have benefited from a recent viciousprice war in Spain. Virtual mobile operators have noinfrastructure of their own but rent capacity from establishedproviders, selling services on to consumers. Virtual operators now account for over 6 percent of theSpanish mobile market. Some 480,000 customers switched their number to anothernetwork in November, with virtual operators and Orange,which still offers subsidies, leading the pick-up from othernetworks. Mobile tariffs have fallen 27 percent over the last threeyears in Spain, where the unemployment rate stands at 25percent. The number of mobile connections in Spain fell 4.1 percentyear-on-year in November to 56 million, the CMT said.