Taken from The Broadband Coverage in Europe 2023 Report - a study prepared for the European Commission DG Communications Networks, Content & Technology
by OMDIA and Point Topic Ltd.
National coverage by broadband technology
Fixed broadband in Spain nears universal coverage levels, with 98.9% of homes passed, up by 3.0 percentage points compared to mid-2022. The availability of NGA and fixed VHCN, i.e. FTTP & DOCSIS 3.1 networks grew by 2.6 and 3.0 percentage points, respectively. Rural Spain recorded good growth across all combination categories in this year’s study, with particularly strong growth in the NGA and fixed VHCN (FTTP & DOCSIS 3.1) categories, which were up by 7.5 and 11.0 percentage points, respectively.
Spain exceeded the EU average across all four categories at both national and rural level. In the fixed VHCN category, Spain ranked fourth and fifth at national and rural level, respectively.
FTTP is the most prevalent broadband technology in Spain, and with 95.2% homes passed, Spain recorded the highest FTTP coverage among all study countries in 2023. Compared to mid-2022, when Spain ranked second, FTTP coverage grew by 4.2 percentage points. Cable networks were available to one third of Spanish households (32.8%), and 86% of the cable network had been upgraded to the DOCSIS 3.1 standard by mid-2023. FWA coverage stood at 97.5%.
The decommissioning of copper networks was far progressed by mid-2023, with plans to complete it by April 2024. The Spanish incumbent started to close small copper plants in 2014, and the pace of decommissioning accelerated over the study period which led to a 47.2 percentage point drop in DSL coverage in this year’s study. VDSL coverage fell to just 1.1%.
The availability of 5G grew by 10.0 percentage points and hit 92.3%, compared to 89.3% for the EU as a whole. Spain also exceeded the EU average in the 5G in the 3.4–3.8 GHz band category which stood at 58.3%, up by 19.2 percentage points compared to mid-2022.
In rural Spain, FTTP was the most prevalent technology, and with 85.9% of homes passed, Spain recorded the third highest rural FTTP coverage among study countries in 2023. Compared to mid-2022, coverage grew by 12.0 percentage points. The availability of cable networks remained low, with just 4.8% of rural households covered, while 4.1% of rural households were covered by DOCSIS 3.1.
DSL decommissioning also caused a sharp drop in rural DSL coverage which fell to 19.8% by mid-2023, while VDSL coverage stood at just 1.7%. FWA coverage increased to 90.2%.
Rural 5G coverage improved by 19.1 percentage points, but unlike at national level, Spain remained below the EU average, with a total of 67.4% of households covered. Spain also remained below the EU average when looking at the 3.4–3.8 GHz band, with 10.2% of rural households covered, compared to 15.2% for the EU as a whole.
Regional coverage by broadband technology
All Spanish regions surpassed the 65% threshold in fixed VHCN (FTTP & DOCSIS 3.1) coverage by mid-2023, while 36 out of 59 regions exceeded 95% coverage. Madrid (99.6%), Barcelona (99.2%), and Melilla (99.1%) came close to universal coverage.
FTTP coverage ranged from 99.2% in Madrid to 74.5% in El Hierro. 26 out of 59 regions in Spain recorded FTTP coverage above 95%.
The majority of Spanish regions (47 out of 59) recorded rural fixed VHCN (FTTP & DOCSIS 3.1) coverage between 65%–95%, while ten regions exceeded the 95% threshold. Lugo and La Palma were the only two regions in which coverage remained below 65%.
The following broadband coverage levels were recorded in Spanish regions outside mainland Europe:
Data tables for Spain
Note: The 2023 figures represent the state of broadband coverage at the end of June 2023. The 2022 (end of June) and 2021 (end of June) figures are drawn from the previous studies conducted by IHS Markit, Omdia, and Point Topic.
All restatements are highlighted in italics.
Taken from The Broadband Coverage in Europe 2023 Report - a study prepared for the European Commission DG Communications Networks, Content & Technology
by OMDIA and Point Topic Ltd.
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