5G already reaches 99% of the Spanish population and 96% in rural areas, in a historical reduction of the digital divide

• In terms of coverage with 5G Stand Alone (SA) technology, key to advanced services such as IoT or telemedicine, there has been an increase of more than 54 points in the last year and reaches 98% of the total population
• In rural areas the growth of 5G SA coverage has also been very prominent from 12.3% in 2024 to 91.2% in 2025. 5G SA has been promoted in rural areas thanks to the UNICO 5G Active Networks Program, aimed at populations with less than 10,000 inhabitants
• In terms of fixed networks, the coverage at Gigabit speed reaches almost 95% of households throughout Spain and 86% of households in rural areas.
• The report also highlights Spain’s leadership in the process of shutting down copper networks in Europe to make way for networks that are more efficient, faster and aligned with European Union connectivity standards.

The Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Service, Óscar López, presented today in the municipality of Patones (Madrid) the Broadband Coverage Report in Spain, which highlights the increase in global 5G mobile coverage, which reaches practically the entire country: 99.27% of the population.

Minister Óscar López has especially highlighted the remarkable progress that has been made in rural areas, where coverage has increased by 16 points to reach 96.13% of the population. As a result, the digital divide between the rural environment and the whole country is reduced to a historical minimum of 3 percentage points, when in 2021 it was ten times greater.

“No country that believes in territorial cohesion can ignore the technological gap that separates populations such as Patones from cities such as Madrid. Connectivity makes the rural world more attractive for talent to come and stay, and ultimately means promoting the right to equal opportunities enshrined in our Constitution,” he said.

The report also highlights the advancement of 5G with Stand Alone (SA) technology, considered “pure” or “native” 5G, and which is essential for the development of advanced services such as the Internet of Things (IoT), the connected industry or telemedicine. Its coverage reaches 98.1% of the population, 54 points more than in 2024. In rural areas, growth has also been very unaffected from 12.39% in 2024 to 91.22% in 2025.

5G SA coverage has been promoted in rural areas through the obligations imposed by the UNICO 5G Active Networks Program, aimed at populations of less than 10,000 inhabitants and endowed with 670 M€.

Fixed Connectivity

In terms of fixed connectivity, almost 95% of Spanish households have access to fixed networks at speeds of 1 Gbps, while, in rural areas, coverage has increased by more than two points to reach 86.01%.

Progress towards the Digital Decade 2030 Goals

The report allows us to know the progress of Spain towards the objectives set by the European Commission in digital connectivity. Spain is making significant progress towards achieving these objectives, exceeding 95% in half of the indicators: optical fiber coverage (95.92%) and global 5G coverage (99.27%). The other two indicators are around 90%.

It is worth noting the increase in the deployment of 5G coverage in the 3.5 GHz band, defined by the European Union as a priority for the development of these services, and which, with an increase of almost 16 points throughout the country, reaches 89.99%.

The report also notes that Spain has led the shutdown of copper networks in Europe, completing the definitive closure of all its ADSL and copper plants on May 27, 2025. The copper network, supported by more than 8,500 power plants, has been fundamentally replaced by optical fiber, ensuring more efficient, sustainable, fast networks and aligned with EU connectivity standards.

Map of coverage and services

This report is complemented by a set of interactive maps that provide information on broadband services available at a given location, as well as broadband coverage maps with indicators to compare different technologies and speeds from the national level to the municipality level.

It should be noted that the State Secretariat of Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures has carried out a broad methodological reinforcement in 2025 to improve the quality, precision and efficiency of coverage information, integrating more than 300 operators to promote its visibility in the updating of the map of services.