Telefónica shares have fallen 10.2 per cent over the past five trading sessions, dropping below €3.50, as investors grow concerned that AI-powered personal agents could dismantle the convergent bundles Spanish operators use to retain customers.

The concern centres on a new generation of AI agents capable of acting on behalf of consumers rather than simply providing information. Such tools could identify cheaper broadband and mobile packages, negotiate discounts or recommend switching to another operator. The shift would target one of the core advantages Spanish telcos have enjoyed: customer reluctance to navigate multiple tariffs, promotions and switching procedures.

The timing is awkward for the industry. Operators are actually strengthening their position in the Spanish pay-TV market. According to data from regulator CNMC, 44 per cent of Spanish households using paid audiovisual platforms access at least one service through a package provided by their Internet operator.

Spain ended 2025 with 6.7 million convergent packages including pay-TV. Telefónica, MasOrange and Vodafone have increasingly aggregated streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max and Prime Video alongside their own television offerings, betting that convenience and single-bill simplicity will keep customers from churning.

That bet rests on friction. Convergent packages combining fixed broadband, mobile services and television have historically increased loyalty in Spain precisely because comparing the total cost of multiple services, promotions and switching procedures was hard work for consumers. AI agents capable of automatically comparing the total cost of increasingly complex bundles could remove much of that friction.

The market reaction reflects a broader question facing the sector. AI may not only transform operators' networks and customer services, as vendors frequently claim, but also change how consumers choose – and leave – their TV and telecom providers. That second-order effect has received far less attention than network automation or AI-driven customer support, yet it strikes directly at the commercial model that Spanish telcos have relied on for years.

Spain's market is already fiercely competitive. MasOrange, formed from the merger of Orange Spain and MásMóvil, and Vodafone Spain, now owned by Zegona, compete aggressively on price with Telefónica's Movistar brand. In that environment, any tool that makes switching easier adds pressure on margins that operators have defended through bundling.

For now, the threat remains potential rather than realised. The investors driving Telefónica's share price below €3.50 are pricing in a future in which AI agents routinely renegotiate telecom contracts on consumers' behalf. Whether such agents achieve mainstream adoption in Spain, and how quickly, will determine whether the 6.7 million convergent pay-TV packages counted at the end of 2025 remain a durable defence against churn or become an increasingly comparison-shopped commodity.