Spain’s Telefónica and Vodafone of the UK are preparing to make preliminary offers for Hansenet, the German fixed-line broadband business owned by Telecom Italia that analysts value at €1bn ($1.33bn).

Telefónica and Vodafone both have fixed-line broadband operations in Germany, and buying Hansenet would enable one of them to mount a stronger challenge to Deutsche Telekom, the country’s leading telecoms company.