Masmovil said that it had reached 505 new towns and cities in its latest 5G expansion
Spanish telecom operator Masmovil is currently offering 5G service in almost 1,400 towns and cities in 51 provinces across Spain for the customers of its Yoigo brand, the carrier said in a release.
According to the operator, 70% of the country’s population is already covered with its 5G network infrastructure. Masmovil also said that it had reached 505 new towns and cities in its latest 5G expansion.
The carrier’s 5G service is being offered via a combination of its own infrastructure and an agreement with rival operator Orange. Masmovil currently has 80 megahertz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band for the provision of 5G services nationwide.
Some of the provinces in which the carrier provides 5G include Albacete, Alicante, Almería, Asturias, Ávila, Badajoz, Barcelona, Burgos, Castellón, Cáceres, Cádiz, Cantabria, Ceuta, Cordoba, Cuenca, Gipuzkoa, Granada, Girona, Guadalajara, Huelva, Huesca, León, Lleida, Lugo, Madrid, Málaga, Melilla, Murcia, Navarra, Ourense, Palencia, Las Palmas, Pontevedra, La Rioja, Salamanca, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Segovia, Sevilla, Soria, Tarragona, Toledo, Valencia, Valladolid, Zamora and Zaragoza.
The operator said it aims to continue deploying 5G infrastructure in the coming months to expand its current coverage. Masmovil also noted that its 5G portfolio already includes over 30 devices.
In October 2019, Masmovil signed an agreement with Orange Spain covering mobile, fiber and broadband technologies. The deal gave Masmovil access to Orange Spain’s entire 5G network thanks to a “virtual active sharing mode” agreement, enabling it to deploy 5G in 4,500 locations that cover 35% of the Spanish population in 40 main cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza, Malaga and Bilbao.
The 5G deal between Masmovil and Orange will be valid until 2028 and is extendable for 5 additional years.
Orange is already offering 5G services in 1,222 towns and cities in 51 provinces across Spain. According to the European telco, its 5G network infrastructure already reaches 65% of the Spanish population.
In February, Orange announced its deployment of 5G in the 700 MHz band. The European carrier said it would offer this technology progressively over the course of 2022 in more than 1,100 towns and cities, 820 of them having between 1,000 and 50,000 citizens.
Meanwhile, Telefónica currently offers 5G coverage to 82% of the Spanish population, via 5G offered through 3.5Gz spectrum. The telco’s 5G network already reaches 1,431 towns and cities across the country. Earlier this year, Telefonica had announced the activation of 5G services using spectrum in the 700 MHz band.
In July, Orange and Masmovil signed a binding agreement to combine their operations in Spain.
The telcos had started negotiations in early March of this year. The transaction is subject to approval from antitrust and other regulatory review and is expected to close during the second half of 2023.
Under the terms of the deal, the 50-50 joint venture stipulates that both operators will have equal governance rights in the combined entity. The agreement also includes a right to trigger an IPO under certain conditions for both parties after a defined period and, in such a scenario, an option for Orange to take control of the combined entity.
