Spanish operators stand together on the plus factor
Orange Spain has activated its 5G Standalone (SA) network in more than 30 locations, reportedly up from 10 Spanish cities only two months ago. The telco was the first operator in Spain to commercially launch 5G SA, which it dubs 5G+.
It said it had reached around 30% of the population by the end of June. After the initial launch of its 5G+ services in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Seville and Valencia, Orange has increased the pace of deployment and provincial capitals such as Alicante, Castellón, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria can now enjoy all the advantages of this new network. Canary Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife, Valladolid or Zaragoza.
In addition, other towns with a high population density such as Alcorcón and Leganés, in Madrid, also have 5G+ connectivity; or Badalona, Hospitalet, Sabadell, Sant Adrià de Besós or Santa Coloma de Gramanet, in Barcelona. In the coming weeks, A Coruña, Badajoz, Barakaldo, Cádiz, Huelva, Jaén, Logroño, Málaga, Pamplona, Vigo and Vitoria will also be added to Orange’s list.
The operator currently offers 5G services in the 3.5GHz and 700MHz bands. Ericsson, Nokia (subscription management) and Oracle Communications are the main providers of its 5G SA network.
Movistar enters the fray
Orange’s 5G SA expansion follows the news that Telefónica’s Movistar had activated 5G SA in its first 11 cities last week. The service, branded Movistar 5G+, is now available in Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, Seville, Palma de Mallorca, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Ávila, Segovia, Castellón, El Ferrol and Vigo – provided you have a compatible handset.
Movistar, which already covers more than 700 municipalities throughout Spain with 3.5GHz, will accelerate the mid-band deployment during the second half of the year with the aim of reaching around 1,000 locations by the end of 2023.
The 5G SA service is based on Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core solution, on top of Ericsson Cloud Infrastructure, combined with its radio access network (RAN) deployment on 3.5GHz covering the main cities.
The 5G+ launch is complemented by the coverage in the 700MHz band that Movistar has been offering since last year and currently reaches more than 2,200 municipalities. As a result, Movistar, already offers 5G coverage to more than 85% of the population.