• In terms of fixed networks, 94% of Spanish households and 84% of those in rural areas have high-capacity broadband coverage, with a gigabit speed.
• These data are collected in the Broadband Coverage Report in Spain, which reflects the coverage situation as of June 30, 2024.
• The report is complemented by interactive maps that offer broadband coverage information up to the cadastral plot level in each municipality
• For the first time, it also includes information on the characteristics of the various broadband services available at a given location, and the operators that offer them.

Eight out of ten Spaniards already enjoy mobile 5G coverage in rural areas. In just three years, this coverage has tripled in rural areas, where 5G has gone from reaching only 26% of the population in 2021 to being available to 80% of the rural population by 2024. And in just one year, from June 2023 to June 2024, 5G coverage in rural areas has increased by 11 percentage points.

That’s how he picks it up Broadband Coverage Report in Spain Presented today by the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service, which reflects the situation of broadband and 5G coverage in Spain as of June 2024.

The Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Service, Óscar López, highlighted that “Spain is a leader in connectivity in Europe, and for this, public private collaboration has been key. Germany has excellent 5G coverage, but, in some areas of Bavaria, by 2024 they still did not reach 20% coverage. This government is committed to territorial cohesion and that is why we have designed programs that will increase 5G coverage in the smallest municipalities. We are building a network without digital gaps.”

5G coverage will be increased even more when the projects funded by the UNICO 5G Active Networks Program, which were awarded in mid-2024 and last March, have allocated almost 670 million to increase 5G Stand Alone coverage in municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants with a very significant percentage of deployments in 3.5 GHz, are completed.

In addition to the increase in rural areas, the Coverage Report states that global 5G mobile coverage reaches 96% of the Spanish population, with an increase rate of more than 3.5 percentage points compared to the previous year. In just three years, 5G coverage increases by 37 points.

Progress towards the Digital Decade 2030 Goals

The report shows Spain’s progress towards the goals set by the European Commission in digital connectivity: ultra-fast broadband of at least 100 Mbps, scalable to gigabit in 2025; and gigabit and 5G connectivity for all households in 2030.

Spain is making significant progress towards achieving these objectives as it exceeds 90% in three indicators: fixed high-capacity networks that allow Gigabit speed (94%), coverage by optical fiber (95%) and global 5G coverage (96%). In rural areas, fixed coverage at gigabit speed already reaches 84% of households, 5% more than in 2023.

As far as the deployment of optical fibre is concerned, the projects awarded under the UNICO Broadband Programme, which received grants of EUR 647 million between 2021 and 2024, are still being implemented and will be completed in the coming months, so that the coverage of these networks will be even more extensive.

Finally, 5G coverage in the 3.4-3.8 GHz bands — established by Europe as priority bands — has also seen significant growth of 16 percentage points in the past year, reaching 74% of the population by 2024.

It also improves 5G coverage in the 3.5 GHz band in rural areas, which has increased by more than 12 percentage points over the previous year and reaches 23%.

Coverage maps and services

This report is complemented by a set of interactive maps. Los broadband coverage maps They include coverage indicators that allow comparative assessments of fixed networks with different technologies and speeds up to the cadastral plot level and mobile coverage up to the municipality level.

Additionally And for the first time ever, maps are published that provide information about broadband services available at a given location, as well as the operators that offer them.

In addition, the data are published in reusable and downloadable format of broadband coverage in Spain since 2013, from which the values can be obtained at national level, by autonomous community, province and municipality.