The Junta de Castilla y León will be sent to the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Public Employment Report on deficiencies in 4G and 5G technology coverageAs well as extending the fiber optic network … Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) in the community. In addition, it offers its economic cooperation to end this situation, which it considers an “insult” to rural citizens.
This Tuesday, the Minister of Mobility and Digital Transformation, José Luis Sanz Merino, presented the report to the Communications Council, as well as his decision to send this report or coverage map that in some cases analyzes the situation in each population center. “We are in the penultimate position in terms of 5G deployment and we are in the penultimate position in fiber optic deployment,” he said, recalling that the goal was to reach a minimum of 100 megabits and a maximum of 1 gigabit.
Specifically, the report states that, according to the Director General of Communications and Digital Administration, António Ibáñez, 0.11 percent of the Castilian and Leonean people do not yet have a 4G network in their area, and this affects 11 percent of population centers. While in the fifth generation, the percentage of the population not covered by coverage increases to 4.2%. And 42% of the population. In fixed broadband, 23 percent of municipalities do not have access to fiber optics, affecting seven percent of the population.
In this sense, Sanz Merino insisted There is still a ‘real digital divide’ In accessing fiber optics, although the Ministry emphasizes that it has already covered “the whole” of the area, because through its Conecta35 programme, where it has not arrived with the fixed network, it uses a satellite solution. But he noted that this option generates “more difficulties” when it comes to accessing online study or remote work.
Regarding mobile phones, he stressed that “there is indeed” a “problem” in spreading fourth and fifth generation networks in society and added that The report analyzes in detail the situation in each population center. “We think it’s a deficiency. In this case, we are the penultimate in all of Spain,” he said, recalling that it was Castilla and Leon that achieved the “worst” results in the country.
Until 2021, as the Chancellor stated, the Council was able to participate in plans to end the digital divide caused by the lack of optical fibres, although he pointed out that since then, with the help of European funds, the government alone has undertaken these measures, which, on the other hand, fall within its competence. In fact, he noted that six out of ten towns in Syria still do not have fiber optics or 4G or 5G mobile technology, and in the case of Burgos, the percentage is a third.
«Here we have 23% of the population offline Sanz-Merino said, warning, that it is “very difficult” to comply with an EU mandate requiring that in 2030, the entire population have access to gigabit fiber optics and 5G mobile technology.
“We are in 2025, on the way to 2026, more than a quarter of a century after the implementation of these technologies began, and I logically believe that the time has come for the residents of these municipalities in Castile and León to also enjoy these possibilities,” the advisor added in statements compiled by Ikal.
DT: 35 million
Regarding digital terrestrial television (DTT), Sanz Merino has requested funding from the government to adapt its community broadcast centers to the new DVB-T2 standard, which will allow ultra-high definition broadcasting. Of the 800 existing companies, 647 are independently owned, so the Board of Directors will have to invest about 35 million in the coming years to comply with the provisions of the new National Technical Plan for DTT.
“What the ministry cannot expect is that the military junta of Castilla and León will have to take charge of this, as it is also alone. You have to take responsibility,” the Transport Minister said before his meeting with members of the Communications Council.