Vodafone sees lower growth in Spain

MADRID (Reuters) - Vodafone's (VOD.L) Spanish unit said on Tuesday that it has seen slightly lower growth as a consumer slowdown combines with growing market saturation.

"We see signs of a change of tendency, but I wouldn't say they were dramatic," said Francisco Roman, head of Vodafone in Spain, where it is the second biggest mobile operator.

As of the end of March, Spain's population of 45 million people had more than 50 million mobile handsets.

The global credit crunch has also hit the Spanish economy hard, with retail sales falling and economic growth slipping to 0.3 percent in the first quarter from a previous quarterly rate of 0.8 percent from Oct-Dec 2007.

Vodafone made up for lower charges per minute last year by finding new clients and boosting its data services. One in three of its Spanish clients use 3G mobiles allowing fast access to the Internet.

The company has also been able to offer ADSL Internet access since December, when it bought Tele2, whose 300,000 clients have brought 118 million euros in revenue.

Vodafone aims at offering ADSL in Spain under its own brand this year, Roman said.

(Reporting by Robert Hetz; writing by Jason Webb)