The Government opens a Public Consultation to define the aid for the improvement of telecommunications infrastructures in buildings

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation launches a public consultation in order to assess the costs of the actions that are planned to be included in a programme of aid for the improvement of telecommunications infrastructures in buildings.

The regulation of common infrastructures in buildings for access to telecommunication services (ICT) has been one of the elements that explains the differential success of the Spanish case in the rapid deployment of new generation networks. This equipment, which has been mandatory in new buildings since 1999, has allowed the buildings to be equipped with facilities planned in advance for the reception services of broadcasting and digital television, telephony and ultra-fast broadband, facilitating the quality of access to these services.

Given the importance of these facilities so that telecommunications services can be accessible to citizens, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation has included in the component “Digital connectivity, promotion of cybersecurity and deployment of 5G” of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan the implementation of an Aid Program that allows owner communities to install or renovate this equipment. The measure was already presented in The Plan for Digital Connectivity and Infrastructure It will also serve to improve energy efficiency, since the energy consumption of the renovated facilities will be lower.

The public consultation carries out different approaches to know the opinion of interested parties, in particular installers, farm managers or owners’ communities on different aspects that would include the aid program. Among other issues, it proposes a set of actions that could be eligible, the possible percentage of aid intensity and makes a proposal of the costs that could be eligible.

It also requests an assessment of the estimated costs of the eligible actions, the maximum eligible limit and the funding scheme.

The consultation will remain open until July 20, 2021 and the full text can be consulted. here.