The entire city with fiber except one neighborhood: the problem that is coming in Spain
Fiber optic coverage is quite widespread in our country, and there are already many municipalities that have access to this connection in its entirety. However, there are certain neighborhoods or areas of some cities that do not have access to fiber optics, while the rest of the city has been enjoying it for some time. That is the case of Palencia, where a neighborhood has been fighting for some time so that fiber optics finally reaches their homes. We tell you more about this case.
This case that we tell you about Palencia is not the only one, since this occurs in several locations in our country. This is of particular concern in some large historic city centers where fiber optics are not yet available.
A serious problem for 2025?
The neighborhood in question to which we refer is the neighborhood of María Cristina, a totally residential neighborhood of Palencia and very central where booths are usually set up or shows of all kinds take place. This case is especially striking. because the rest of the entire Palencia does have fiber optic coveragelimiting the absence of this only to this popular neighborhood.
As is logical, the residents of this neighborhood have been fighting for some time for fiber optics to be installed in the area, but so far their requests have not been met. The problem with this neighborhood is that it is a protected neighborhood, and that according to current regulations does not allow new installations to be made on the facades of houses. This leaves the only option for this area to bury the cables, which would allow this neighborhood to have the same fiber coverage as the rest of the city.
Nowadays this neighborhood has to use ADSL, since copper is the only thing they can use in María Cristina. The real problem in this neighborhood and in many others in Spain will come when Telefónica turns off the copper, something that if everything goes as it should, should happen in 2025. If a solution is not given by then, all these areas would be left without any type of Internet service, something unfortunate if it happens.
As explained by the vice president of the neighborhood association, “it is an issue that we have discussed with the City Council repeatedly for four or five years, but we have no solution. We don’t know what will happen when the copper cables disappear, their days are numbered.”
As we say, this is something that not only happens in Palencia, but also in other cities in Spain such as Granada or Toledo. In all of them there are areas that are protected and it is not possible to install any type of wiring on the facades of the buildings, which makes it impossible to carry the fiber optic installations there. We do not know what will happen between now and 2025 in these areas, but what is clear is that all residents in them deserve to have the best possible Internet connection.
