The Government allocates 9.4 million euros to Palencia to continue promoting the deployment of 5G

• This program is a pioneer in Europe and guarantees the deployment of 5G with full functionality in municipalities of less than 10,000 inhabitants • This aid is in addition to the 7.6 million invested to provide fiber optic mobile towers in the province • Applications can be submitted until October 31 at 1 p.m. in the electronic register of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation

October 13, 2023.- The Official State Gazette has published the call for grants from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation to deploy the necessary equipment in 5G services in municipalities of less than 10,000 inhabitants. Through this call for UNICO 5G Active Networks, the Government continues to bet on digitally structuring Spain, now universalizing the mobile connectivity of this technology also in smaller population centers.

In Palencia, this aid program, financed with the European funds Next Generation EU of the Recovery Plan and the agenda España Digital 2026, involves an investment of 9,402,796 euros for the provision of necessary active, passive equipment and, where appropriate, additional infrastructure such as “backhaul” that facilitate the deployment of 5G in the municipalities of the province of less than 10,000 inhabitants.

These resources are in addition to the 7,660723 euros awarded by the Ministry -with the resolution of UNICO 5G Backhaul- to several operators to provide optical fiber to the mobile towers existing in municipalities of the province of Palencia of less than 5,000 inhabitants, contributing to avoid the appearance of a territorial gap in the implementation of this technology by favoring its deployment in smaller municipalities.

Thus, in the province of Palencia, both calls add an investment of 17,072,519 million.

New development possibilities

Due to its very high capacity and low latency characteristics, 5G opens up new possibilities for industrial and social transformation. This call for grants in competitive competition is aimed at operators who provide 5G service to provide in rural areas active equipment, passive and infrastructures that develop this technology in municipalities of less than 10,000 inhabitants in which there is no 4G mobile coverage of at least 50 Mbps in the downward direction, and it is not foreseen in the next three years.

This means great possibilities to take advantage of 5G in activities carried out in small municipalities in different economic sectors such as agriculture, tourism or in improving the provision of public services. This guarantees the use and access to applications and services of the latest technology, such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality.

This will be possible in small municipalities, for example, the sensorization of different crops to optimize production, the development of tourist and cultural activities applying new realities, the improvement of public services with real-time operations or remote care for health emergencies or emergencies, as well as the precision for garbage collection or recycling with sensors in the containers to adapt it to the demand of use.

Until 31 October

Applications to participate in the program can be submitted until October 31 at 1 p.m. in the electronic register of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation.

The grants included in this call are complementary to other actions that are being carried out under the umbrella of the UNICO program, which is being developed by the Government of Spain through the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures.