The Government of Spain continues to outline its broadband expansion plans in the country, and that includes both 5G and plans for fiber optics. Thus, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation has explained in its budgets how it intends to carry out this deployment, despite the fact that it is still at least one auction of radio spectrum remains to be carried out.
According to the Ministry, 1,450 million euros have been budgeted in investments to expand 5G in the next 3 years, from the current 2021 to 2023, and what is contemplated is that for the completion there will be some 14,500 active sites to serve 5G, between new sites and upgrades of current sites for 5G.
14,500 5G sites and up to 1Gbps for fiber
As indicated by the Ministry in its budgets for the expansion of broadband in Spain, investment in 5G amounts to a total of 1,405 million euros and will be divided into three years. Thus, we will have 235 million budgeted for this 2021, an additional 600 million for 2022 and 570 million for the year 2023.
The Ministry’s budgets also include that The deployment of 5G will be prioritized in the main national transport corridors, both on roads and railways, and also on cross-border. The Government estimates that these corridors will be strengthened with the placement of up to 4,000 sites for 5G on the communication routes between Spain and Portugal, and also between Spain and France.
In addition to this, the Government wants to increase the existing capacity of the network and for this it will increase the density of base stations and thus improve the coverage and performance of 5G. In the budgets it appears the fitting out of at least 7,000 new sites, and all this must be added the retrofitting of another 3,500 current sites, which will go from offering 4G to offering 5G to increase the capacity of the network.
But this 5G expansion plan will also have the support of our country’s fixed broadband, and for this the Government intends to launch a new project, an execution plan whose budget will be awarded before 2023. Said project intends guarantee up to 300Mbps symmetric, upgradeable to 1Gbps symmetric. Awarded before 2023, the plan must offer these speeds before the end of 2025 and for this, 812 million euros have been budgeted.
Via | Five days