Reclaiming direct control of assets deemed critical to stability
Hay momentos en que una empresa descubre que lo que vendió no era un activo prescindible, sino una parte de sí misma. Telefónica, bajo el liderazgo de Marc Murtra, está a punto de cerrar la recompra de Lineox por unos 90 millones de euros, recuperando los cerca de 11.000 radioenlaces de microondas que vendió a Asterion Industrial en 2020 para aliviar su deuda. Lo que entonces pareció una decisión financiera sensata se revela ahora como una cesión de control sobre la columna vertebral inalámbrica que conecta las torres móviles en la España rural. La operación no es solo una transacción: es una declaración sobre qué significa, en tiempos de incertidumbre, poseer la propia infraestructura.
- Telefónica está a días de firmar la recompra de Lineox, la filial que Asterion Industrial creó con los radioenlaces vendidos en 2020, en una operación valorada en torno a 90 millones de euros.
- La urgencia nace de una estrategia de resiliencia: el CEO Marc Murtra ha identificado que ceder el control de infraestructura crítica a terceros expone a la operadora a riesgos de calidad y dependencia que ya no está dispuesta a asumir.
- Los 11.000 radioenlaces de microondas son la solución práctica para zonas rurales donde el despliegue de fibra óptica no tiene retorno económico, y recuperarlos directamente garantiza a Telefónica mayor capacidad de respuesta sobre su propia red.
- La operación se enmarca en una revisión más amplia del portfolio: Telefónica analiza qué otros activos críticos vendidos en años anteriores podrían y deberían volver a su perímetro, incluyendo posibles emplazamientos de transmisión de radio.
- El acuerdo paralelo con Cellnex para instalar baterías de respaldo en más de 2.000 torres apunta en la misma dirección: una compañía que está reconstruyendo, capa a capa, su autonomía operativa frente a fallos externos.
Telefónica está a punto de cerrar la recompra de Lineox, la empresa que Asterion Industrial —fondo de capital riesgo dirigido por Jesús Olmos— creó en 2020 tras adquirir cerca de 11.000 radioenlaces digitales de microondas a la operadora española. El precio ronda los 90 millones de euros y la firma podría producirse en cuestión de días.
Aquellos radioenlaces no eran infraestructura menor: constituían el sistema nervioso inalámbrico de Telefónica en zonas rurales y de baja densidad de población, donde tender fibra óptica carece de sentido económico. La venta, ejecutada bajo la dirección de José María Álvarez-Pallete, respondía a la necesidad de reducir deuda y sanear el balance. Seis años después, el nuevo CEO Marc Murtra ha reorientado las prioridades: la resiliencia de la red está por encima de la optimización financiera a corto plazo.
La recompra de Lineox forma parte de una revisión estratégica más amplia en la que Telefónica examina qué activos críticos vendidos en etapas anteriores deberían volver a su control directo. Algunos de esos activos podrían ser emplazamientos de transmisión de radio con un papel especialmente relevante en la red. La lógica es coherente con el acuerdo reciente con Cellnex para instalar sistemas de batería de respaldo en más de 2.000 torres: ambas decisiones apuntan a una compañía que quiere depender menos de terceros cuando la red no puede permitirse fallar.
Los radioenlaces de microondas no son el futuro —la fibra es más rápida, más estable y no genera cuellos de botella en redes 5G a plena carga—, pero en la España rural siguen siendo la opción práctica. Controlarlos directamente, en lugar de a través de un proveedor externo, ofrece a Telefónica mayor garantía sobre la calidad del servicio en los territorios donde la conectividad es más difícil y, precisamente por eso, más valiosa.
Telefónica is bringing home a piece of its own infrastructure. The Spanish telecom operator and Asterion Industrial, a venture capital fund run by Jesús Olmos, have nearly finalized a deal to return Lineox to Telefónica's control. The transaction, valued at roughly 90 million euros, could be signed within days.
Lineox exists because of a sale that happened six years earlier. In April 2020, Asterion acquired approximately 11,000 digital microwave radio links from Telefónica—wireless connections that ferry data between mobile towers in rural and sparsely populated areas where laying fiber optic cable makes no economic sense. These links were the nervous system of Telefónica's network in places where traffic volume was too light to justify the expense and complexity of fiber infrastructure. The company sold them off as part of a broader effort to reduce debt and balance its books under the previous leadership of José María Álvarez-Pallete.
Now, under CEO Marc Murtra, the calculus has shifted. Murtra has made infrastructure resilience a central priority, and that means reclaiming direct control of assets deemed critical to the network's stability and performance. The Lineox acquisition is part of a larger strategic review underway at Telefónica to identify which assets sold in earlier years should be brought back into the fold. The company has already begun analyzing its portfolio of critical infrastructure currently outside its perimeter, examining what can realistically be recovered. Some of those assets may include radio transmission sites that play especially vital roles in the network.
The timing reflects a broader shift in how Telefónica thinks about its infrastructure. Recently, the operator signed an agreement with Cellnex, the tower company that owns many of Telefónica's cell sites, to install battery backup systems at more than 2,000 towers. That deal, too, speaks to a focus on resilience—ensuring that towers can keep operating even when the main power grid fails. Microwave radio links fit into the same logic. They are not the future of network connectivity; fiber optic cables are faster, more stable, and do not create bottlenecks when 5G networks are running at full capacity. But in rural Spain, where the cost of running fiber is high and the traffic is low, these wireless links remain the practical choice. Controlling them directly, rather than through a third party, gives Telefónica greater assurance over service quality.
In a separate move, Telefónica Tech and Google Cloud announced a partnership to offer Spanish public administrations and private companies a sovereign cloud service. The arrangement allows organizations in highly regulated sectors—defense, security, health care—to store data on Google's infrastructure while maintaining strict control over where that data lives and who can access it. Google Cloud will expand its Madrid data center region to support this service, using local infrastructure to ensure compliance with Spain's digital sovereignty and privacy requirements. The partnership reflects how European companies and governments are increasingly insisting on data residency and control, even when using cloud services from American providers.
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Why would Telefónica sell these radio links in the first place, and then want them back?
The first sale was about survival. In 2020, the company was under pressure to cut debt and show investors it could balance its books. These rural links weren't generating much revenue—the traffic in those areas is light—so they looked like a good candidate for sale. Asterion bought them and operated them as a business.
And now Murtra wants them back. What changed?
The priority changed. Murtra came in focused on resilience and direct control. If Telefónica owns the links outright, it can guarantee service quality and respond faster to problems. It's not about the revenue—it's about the network's backbone.
But fiber is better, right? Why not just lay fiber in those rural areas?
Fiber is better, but it's expensive and complicated to install. In low-density areas with light traffic, the return on investment doesn't justify the cost. The radio links work fine for what they do. They're the practical solution.
So this is just one deal. Is Telefónica planning to buy back other assets?
That's the bigger story. Murtra has launched a review of all critical assets that were sold off in previous years. Lineox might be just the beginning. The company is looking at what else it should recover.
What does the Google Cloud deal tell us about where Telefónica is heading?
It shows the company is thinking beyond just its own infrastructure. Data sovereignty is becoming as important as network resilience. Telefónica is positioning itself as a trusted partner for Spanish organizations that need to keep their data under control.