The government delegate in Galicia, José Miñones, announced this morning in Ponteceso that the government will ensure high-speed internet connection in all rural areas of Galicia thanks to the new plan approved by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation within the framework of the Recovery Plan. The UNICO Rural Demand program will universalize access to ultra-fast broadband in one hundred percent of the Galician territory. This was advanced by the delegate in a meeting with neighbors and neighbors in which the mayor, Lois García Carballido, also participated. The contracting of the service in these areas will be rewarded by the Government, to protect social and territorial cohesion.
“Connectivity is a basic element to guarantee the survival of small concellos; it is a weapon against depopulation,” says José Miñones, who said that people who hire this service in remote and sparsely populated areas of the territory will have a government bonus to make it accessible.
The Government has provisionally granted the company Hispasat the extension of broadband via satellite to all rural areas. This action is part of the Single Plan, funded by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, and has a budget both for the configuration of the service and to cover the high cost of the end user.
Hispasat will deploy through satellite technology the necessary infrastructures to provide ultra-fast connectivity to areas throughout Spain where there is no coverage with fixed technology at a minimum of 50 Mbps and will provide an affordable service of at least 100 Mbps until December 31, 2027
“The Government’s Recovery Plan reaches every corner of Galicia to end the digital divide and open up new opportunities in rural areas, by extending the ultra-fast internet connection to one hundred percent of the rural territory of Galicia,” he said.
Bonus flat rate
As an adjudicator, Hispasat will deploy, through satellite technology, the necessary infrastructures to extend the ultra-fast internet connection (of at least 100Mbps) to the areas of Spain where there is no coverage with fixed technology of at least 50Mbps, the so-called “white areas”. This service will be provided until December 31, 2027 at a fixed price of 35 euros per month for the end user.
With the UNICO Rural Demand plan, the Government complements the progress in connectivity already made in Galicia thanks to the two calls resulting from the Program of Universalization of Digital Infrastructures for UNICO-Broadband Cohesion. In the municipality of Ponteceso, the UNICO plan brings the high-speed internet connection to 472 farms and companies.
The Government’s goal is that, as early as 2023, 95% of the population will have access to high-speed internet, reaching 100% by 2025.