Vodafone Spain has activated its 5G network in a total of 25 cities across the country, the telco said in a release.
The telco said that it has recently launched the technology in Toledo, Castellón de la Plana, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Vodafone’s 5G service is currently offered through spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band.
Vodafone launched Spain’s first commercial 5G network in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Malaga, Zaragoza, Bilbao, Vitoria, San Sebastian, La Coruna, Vigo, Gijon, Pamplona, Logrono and Santander in June 2019. It has also carried out more than 130 use cases over the 5G network in fields such as smart cities, agriculture, health and tourism with the collaboration some 30 partners.
In all these cities, Vodafone says it provides coverage to over 50% of the population.
The company has previously said that itis working with Huawei and Ericsson in the deployment of the 5G network.
Rival operator Orange recently said it was already offering 5G services in 298 towns and cities in 38 provinces across the country, the telco said in a statement.
According to the telco, 5G coverage already reaches 23% of the Spanish population.
Orange said it expects its 5G network to reach 90% of the population by 2022, according to a previous press report.
Orange is aiming to offer this technology in 400 cities by the end of the year, which is equivalent to a population coverage of over 51%, through a combination of non-standalone (NSA) 5G and Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) technologies.
Some of the cities covered by Orange’s NSA 5G network include Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Malaga, Cadiz, Ibiza, Zaragoza, Logroño, Leon, Santander, Salamanca, Valladolid and Pamplona.
The operator launched commercial 5G services in Spain in September of 2020, using equipment provided by Swedish vendor Ericsson.
Spain’s largest telco Telefonica’s 5G network already reaches 80% of the country’s population, according to recent Spanish press reports. The operator’s goal was to provide 5G coverage to 75% of the Spanish population by the end of 2020.
Telefonica currently offers 5G connectivity in nearly 1,300 towns and cities across the Spain.
Meanwhile, Masmovil launched 5G last year and the telco’s network currently provides this technology in 19 Spanish cities.
