By Clare Kane
MADRID, May 7 (Reuters) - Spanish mobile operator Yoigo will be the first operator in the country to offer itscustomers superfast Internet on their smartphones with thelaunch of its 4G network in July.
A 4G network will give the fourth-biggest operator in Spainan advantage over rivals Telefonica and Vodafone, which have lost share to low-cost providers ascustomers in Spain - where the unemployment rate stands at 27percent - seek cheap deals.
Yoigo's CEO Eduardo Taulet told a news conference there willbe no extra charge for customers who currently have 3G mobilecontracts.
Taulet said Yoigo, owned by Sweden's Teliasonera,will offer 4G services in the Madrid region from July 18. By theend of 2014 the service will be available for 75 percent of thepopulation.
Superfast Internet services are already available in manyEuropean countries, including Britain, Germany, Italy andPortugal.
Yoigo will spend 200 million euros ($261 million) over twoyears on building the network, which will offer average speedsof between 20 and 40 megabits per second, comparable to fasthome broadband speeds.
The higher speeds will make downloading high-resolutionvideo easier and enable better multi-tasking on the latestsmartphones and tablet computers.
Orange, owned by France Telecom, has also said itwill launch a 4G network in Spain this summer. A spokeswoman forVodafone said the company had carried out a pilot but declinedto comment further on plans for 4G.
A spokesman for Telefonica could not immediately be reachedfor comment. The company has previously said it has developed 4Gtechnology, though it is not known when it will be widelyavailable in Spain.
Teliasonera scrapped the sale of Yoigo after failing toattract high enough bids.
The operator's market share grew to 6.66 percent in Februaryfrom 5.34 percent a year earlier as a price war in the Spanishmarket heated up.
Vodafone (VOD)