The Spain Government will invest 20 million euros to boost the 5G networks

The Council of Ministers has authorized the public business entity Red.es, under the Ministry of Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda, the granting of aid worth 20 million euros to promote the development of two pilot projects 5G by the sector private sector in the framework of the National 5G Plan and to contribute to the objectives of the National Intelligent Territories Plan.

The projects submitted to this call must meet three objectives: support the deployments of the first 5G networks, experiment with the network management techniques that 5G technology allows and develop use cases, with the involvement of all agents, including the users, that allow crediting the three great improvements contributed by the 5G: mobile broadband of very high speed and capacity, ultra reliable and low latency communications and massive machine-to-machine communications.

The Government, with these pilot experiences, seeks to "promote an early demand that facilitates experimenting with the different potentials of this technology, promoting the development of ecosystems among operators, technology and solution providers and the rest of the agents involved," the Executive said. a statement.

«The acquired experience will make it easier for Spain to be among the most advanced countries in the development of this new technology so that when the 5G reaches its technological and commercial maturity, Spain is ready to take full advantage of the opportunities of this fundamental technological paradigm for the digital transformation ", continues the letter, which emphasizes that this experience will be used to provide the Administration" greater knowledge on aspects related to the efficient use of frequencies and those other issues related to network deployments and 5G services ", which can serve as a reference for possible regulatory measures linked to the deployments of 5G networks.

Publication of the call

Previously, the Ministry of Energy, Tourism, and Digital Agenda, by resolution of the Secretary of State for the Information Society and the Digital Agenda, has enabled the use of the frequency bands 3.4-3.8 GHz and 26 GHz for the development of the 5G technology pilot projects foreseen in the 5G National Plan. These frequency bands are those identified in the European Union as priorities for the launch of 5G services.

The call for aid, which will be published in the BOE in the coming days, is aimed at companies and/or temporary unions of companies. Applicants must detail the territorial scope of the pilot, its potential to develop use cases associated with urban, industrial, rural or insular environments, as well as a plan that includes network deployment tasks and those associated with the proposed use cases.

The development of the pilots and the upcoming bidding of the frequency bands for 5G commercial services place Spain in a leading role in the development of 5G technology in Europe.