The Temporary Union of Companies (UTE) made up of Vodafone Spain and Securitas Seguridad has been again proposed by the Ministry of Equality as the awardee of the contract for the bracelets for abusers —known as the Cometa system—, after winning against the competing UTE formed by Orange and Securitas Direct (now Verisure) and despite the recent problems recorded in the provision of this service.
With this decision, Vodafone would resume the management of these telematic bracelets, designed to ensure compliance with precautionary measures and restraining orders in cases of gender-based violence and sexual violence.
Best technical and economic proposal
Vodafone would have achieved a valuation in the technical criteria —among which are included the transition plan or the quality of the telecommunications service, among other aspects— of 41.3 points out of a maximum possible of 46, while Orange was left with 26.7 points.
In the economic section, the consortium led by Vodafone presented a proposal of 67.5 million euros including VAT, a figure slightly lower than the 70.3 million offered by the consortium headed by Orange.
Thus, by combining the technical score obtained and the amount of the bids, Vodafone's proposal is placed ahead of Orange's for the definitive award of this contract.
The service works through a public tender from the Ministry of Equality. The department puts out to tender the complete system of telematic monitoring and companies present technical and economic offers. The award is decided by a contracting committee that evaluates: technical criteria, system reliability, logistics and maintenance, coverage and connectivity, and offered price. It is an administrative public contract from the Ministry of Equality, processed in accordance with the Public Sector Contracts Law.
The new contract
The new contract foresees a base budget of about 71.3 million euros, possibility of reaching about 111 million with extensions, fifth-generation devices and an increase in the number of bracelets to about 17,660 units.
The current contract had already been temporarily extended while the new tender was being resolved. The usual scheme includes an initial period of several years plus possible annual extensions, provided that the Ministry activates them and the successful bidder continues to meet the conditions of the tender documents.
Problems in service and fine to Vodafone
It should be recalled that the department headed by Ana Redondo imposed a fine of 25,285 euros on Vodafone last March for the failure recorded on November 11, 2025 in the aforementioned bracelets, when a technological failure left the service partially inoperative for about 13 hours, affecting the telematic monitoring of aggressors and victims of gender and sexual violence.
The sanction occurred after the opening of a file to examine the incidents detected in the provision of the service. As a result of the investigation, it was agreed to apply an economic penalty, which was executed by deducting amounts from the current contract with the awarded company. It was the first formal economic sanction after months of controversy and criticism because initially no files had been opened despite the incidents detected.
The ruling forced the Ministry of Equality and the State Security Forces and Corps to activate extraordinary protection protocols for the more than 4,500 victims who were using the system at that time.
In addition to that specific episode, during 2024 and 2025 other technical complaints about the bracelets became known: geolocation errors, coverage problems, manipulable devices or with deficiencies in water resistance and, even, alleged problems that would have complicated judicial proceedings for violation of restraining orders.