The Ministers for Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, and for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, José Luis Escrivá, have sent a joint letter to the heads of local authorities throughout Spain. The government is mobilising 2.6 billion euros in the deployment of fixed broadband networks, satellite networks and mobile networks.

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Expand telecommunications networks

The ministers for Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, and for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, José Luis Escrivá, have sent a letter to the heads of all Spanish local authorities to request their collaboration in the deployment of telecommunications infrastructures.

The ministers recalled the importance of having excellent telecommunications networks to combat the digital divide between rural and urban areas, to combat depopulation and to boost the economy. Torres and Escrivá stress that the government is currently mobilising more than 2,600 million euros (2,000 million of which is public investment) to deploy the latest generation networks, which is why they are requesting the “complicity and participation” of the heads of local authorities to “prioritise and speed up the pending permit procedures”. The aim, the letter states, is to ensure that the benefits of these infrastructures “reach all citizens” and thus guarantee “social and territorial cohesion”.

The letter also recalls that Spain has already managed to close the digital divide between rural and urban areas, allowing 100 % of citizens to have ultra-fast fixed broadband connectivity (100 Mbps). In this regard, they underline that the UNICO Rural Demand programme, through the Conéctate 35 project commissioned to Hispasat, offers 200 Mbps connection for 35 euros per month in those areas where there is no commercially available high-speed offer.

The ministers point out that, in addition to this programme, there are two other plans underway to extend the coverage of fibre optic networks and 5G mobile networks, which can have a major impact on improving connectivity in municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants.