Telefonica Chairman Rules Out Takeover Of Dutch Rival Royal KPN

10th Jun 2010 15:46

MADRID (Dow Jones)--Telefonica SA (TEF) has ruled out buying Dutch rival Royal KPN NV (KPN.AE), the Spanish telecommunications company's Chairman Cesar Alierta said Thursday. Alierta made the comments in a meeting with journalists in New York Thursday, a company spokesman said. Last month, the German government completed a spectrum auction that left KPN without the most valuable 800 megahertz band telecommunications companies need to build fourth-generation networks that power the latest data-hungry smartphones. The 800 MHz band is sought after because it is the most cost-efficient way to build next-generation mobile networks. Market observers had speculated Telefonica or another rival could buy KPN after it lost out in the auction. Right now, Germany has four mobile network providers: Vodafone Group PLC's (VOD) local unit; Deutsche Telekom AG's (DT) T-Mobile; Telefonica's O2 and KPN's E-plus. -By Jason Sinclair, Dow Jones Newswires, 34 913958127, [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 10, 2010 10:46 ET (14:46 GMT)