The Government opens a public consultation on the tender to be designated by the new provider of the universal telecommunications service

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, through the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures, has opened a public consultation on the Order calling for public tenders for the designation of an operator or operators who provide the services included in the universal service currently in force. With this Order, the bases that will govern such tendering will also be approved additionally.

The consultation aims to make the next call for tenders known to the actors involved and to obtain their opinion, as well as to set out the administrative and technical conditions that will govern this process to designate the provider of electronic communications services guaranteed for citizenship throughout the territory, with a specified quality and at an affordable price.

The operator designated by Ministerial Order to provide the universal telecommunications service until January 1, 2023 is Telefónica de España.

For the new designation of operator or operators responsible for providing the universal service in the next two years, the characteristics of the universal telecommunications service that incorporates the General Telecommunications Law approved in June are taken into account. On the one hand, a minimum broadband internet access speed of 10 Mbit per second is set down (compared to the current 1 Mbit).

As for the provision of voice communication telephone service, it is established that it is through an underlying connection in a fixed location that allows the user to receive and make calls at national and international level through geographic or non-geographic numbers, in accordance with the provisions of the National Plan for Telephone Numbering.

The public consultation on the bases and call for tender will remain open until December 3, with approval by Ministerial Order. You can consult the information in this link