La convocatoria de ayudas del Programa ÚNICO extenderá la cobertura de banda ancha ultrarrápida al 95% de la población
27/10/2021
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation has published the provisional resolution proposal for the call for 2021 of the Digital Infrastructure Universalization Program for UNICO-Broadband Cohesion, which will benefit 1.27 million households and companies hitherto without coverage of an access speed greater than 100 Mbps. This program, managed by the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure, is part of the “Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan”.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation has published the provisional resolution proposal for the call for 2021 of the Digital Infrastructure Universalization Program for UNICO-Broadband Cohesion, which will benefit 1.27 million households and companies hitherto without coverage of an access speed greater than 100 Mbps. This program, managed by the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure, is part of the “Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan”.
After analysing and evaluating the 160 applications received, it has been proposed to grant aid to 52 projects present in all the provinces and autonomous cities of Spain.
The call grants aid for the extension of ultra-fast broadband electronic communications networks in areas of 4,516 municipalities, most located in “white zones” that do not have coverage of speed networks of at least 30 Mbps, nor plans for their provision in the next three years. The rest are located in “grey areas” that only have new-generation broadband coverage at less than 100Mbps by a single operator or forecasts for its provision within 3 years.
The largest broadband extension grant ever
The call had an allocation of 250 million euros, the largest in the history of broadband extension programs. The motion for a resolution involves the granting of aid of 249.9 million euros, which will mean executing 99.9% of the available funds. With the contributions to be made by the beneficiary operators, the total investment in the awarded projects will amount to 479.45 million euros, which means an average aid intensity of 52 percent.
After the implementation of the selected projects in UNICO-Broadband and the ongoing projects of the PEBA-NGA calls, the coverage of networks with speed higher than 100 Mbps will reach 95% of the population in 2023.
The extension of broadband to 100% of the population with a speed of at least 100 Mbps is a commitment of the Government included in the Spain Digital 2025 strategy to reach the most dispersed rural areas, contribute to the closing of the territorial digital divide and face the demographic challenge for a fair, inclusive and supportive recovery.
UNICO-Broadband is part of the Recovery Plan, which foresees an investment of 4,000 million euros for the extension of connectivity, to accelerate the deployment of 5G networks and boost a cybersecurity ecosystem.
Program of Universalization of Digital Infrastructures for Cohesion (UNICO)
The Universalization of Digital Infrastructures for Cohesion Programme (UNICO) continues the New Generation Broadband Extension Programme (PEBA-NGA), which has made Spain one of the European countries with the highest percentage of broadband coverage. In 2020, 87% of the Spanish population had digital infrastructure coverage that allows speeds of at least 100 Mpbs.
In order to achieve the objective of the Recovery Plan and to reach 100% of the population, the UNICO program has increased public investments, increased the maximum aid intensity to 80% and made a selection of eligible areas with greater granularity, lowering to a cadastral plot level. This will make it possible to speed up every home or business to have ultra-fast broadband coverage.