The European Commission will have to decide whether it grants the extension that the Spanish Executive could request to bring beyond 2026 the expansion of 5G in the territories with less than 10,000 inhabitants.
The plan Only active networks Draw a aid system for the provision of passive infrastructure that allow Provide 5G networks to populations with less than 10,000 inhabitants and thus bring greater connectivity to almost the entire national territory.
Initially, the plan contemplated that the execution of all investments to make said deployment concluded in February 2026. For this, it relied on a two -phase development that meant working on almost ten thousand rural towers. However, according to expansion, the Government would have to negotiate with the European Community an extension in the contract.
The rural 5g will need some more time
One of the reasons for delay is explained by the initial negotiation between the administration and the European Commission. The latter delayed the approval of public financing for the deployment of 5G in our country, having the development of 4G had not subsidized and, nevertheless, had reached 99% of our territory.
The situation caused the government to launch in 2022 a contest endowed with 150 million euros, whose objective was to build telephone towers in rural areas. However, the total amount should be dedicated to the construction of new locations, but did not include a budget for telecos to install equipment in these new towers. So the public tender was deserted in a first phase.
Once the CE was convinced that a line of aid to put active equipment should be used, the first phase of the Unique Active Networks contest was launched, equipped with 508 million euros. But it was not awarded until May 2024. The second phase, which added just over 160 million euros, was awarded in December 2024.
If we take into account that the deadline to execute investments, as we have already anticipated, ends in February 2026, and that it must be acting in almost 10,000 towers, the result is that all those involved need some more time to continue with the Deployment and performing work that requires an extension of infrastructure such as the one currently planned.
The distribution of funds
Taking into account the two phases, the plan Only active networks He has awarded a total of 382 million to Telefónica, which has to act on 5071 locations. Masorange has received 202 million euros, with responsibility on 2836 locations, while Vodafone has achieved a total of 86 million over a total of 1644 towers.
The problem is that in the event that an extension in the time of execution of European funds was not negotiated, as of February 2026 the operators could not continue working on these locations. So the money that would not have been executed would cease to be available for this program.
As they point out from expansion, taking into account the ability to deploy the operators and the administrative procedures that are required for each of these works, it would be necessary to request an extension of the deadline to comply with the initially defined plan.
