Spain continues to have Europe’s most extensive FTTH network, with more than 8 in 10 (80.4%) of premises covered at the end of June 2019, up 3 percentage points from 2018, according to the latest fixed broadband update from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation. Access to speeds of at least 100 Mbps likewise improved by 3 percentage points in the year to June 2019, reaching 83.6 percent of the population, while 94 percent have access to at least 30 Mbps thanks to improvements in provinces with the lowest penetrations in 2018, including Zamora, Lugo, Avila and Segovia.
In fact, the ministry said the government’s ongoing subsidy programmes has helped to further reduce the digital divide, with fixed broadband networks offering speeds of at least 30 Mbps reaching 86.6 percent of residents living in localities with fewer than 100 inhabitants per square kilometre at the end of June 2019, up 32 percent year on year. Fibre-optic networks are now present in nearly half (49.8%) of rural localities with less than 5,000 inhabitants, up 38 percent year on year.
Earlier this year, the ministry announced plans to significantly expand the number of areas eligible for broadband subsidies with a view to bringing fibre connections to 1.5 million more people in the country. Under its existing PEBA-NGA programme, the aim is to increase superfast broadband coverage to 91.24 percent of the Spanish population and 75.29 percent of rural areas by the end of 2021.
