Broadband has become part of
the reality of advanced societies (Broadband Society), especially with the emergence of new
technologies and with the developments carried out in this field. Broadband and
the type of technology varies according to the plan of telecommunications of
each territory, since the characteristics of this are taken into account to
know whether to establish one type or another.
Along the following article, in
collaboration with Cristina Poyato Santiago, from UPF, we are going deeper into rural and
most neglected areas of Spain, specifically we are going to focus in the province of Zamora, located in the autonomous
community of Castilla y León. Zamora is known as a zone
with a high level of depopulation, that is due to the large extension of the
rural area, since a generous part of the province is made up of low-density
locations.
(Map of the territory of Zamora. MICHELIN)
First of all, we are going to define
some concepts that we are going to talk about, in order to make it easier to
understand along the article. Starting with broadband, this is a service that
offers data connection and the transmission of documents and files, whether you
want to download or upload on certain devices such as mobile phones, computers
and laptops, or televisions, for example. In the case that we are going to
analyze, we will specify in the type of ADSL broadband. The ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) technology, is a technology that runs
by cable and it is characterized by being asymmetrical, that is, it has a
download speed different than the upload speed (10Mbps and 4Mbps,
respectively). This technology of telecommunications allows the Internet
connection and the transmission of files through the copper wires of the
telephone line.
The ADSL in Spain has been a bit dated. In 1999, the first flat
internet rate in the country was installed, and both the Ministry
of Development
and the Telefónica company, decided that it was through
the ADSL. The total connections reached were near to 5,6 millions. But the ADSL
technology arose many problems. Spain was offering a connection through ADSL
which, in general, was much worse compared to the one offered in the rest of
Europe, and what’s more, the efficiency was being affected according to the
distance between the plant and the houses of the subscribers. According to
Claudio Vega, editor at ADSLZone, “Spain has always had the slowest and
most expensive ADSL of all Europe”. That is why, in 2005, Telefónica
began the pilot tests of fiber optic that, nowadays, place Spain as the country with the largest
fiber network to the home (FTTH) in Europe. Even so, not all the localities of the
country have achieved this kind of technology (fiber optic), and that is the case
we are going to deal with, the case of Zamora.
The province of Zamora has the ADSL as
the most present technology in its homes, representing just over 80%, and
instead, the fiber optic is almost 40%. In the rest of Castilla y León, in
2017, the 90% was reached. It should be noted that with the ADSL technology,
the more speed, the worse connection, and that is why the most widely seen
broadband in the province is the one that offers 2Mbps. This speed is a
problem, since it only allows a basic activity, if we want a more professional
and online use, more speed is necessary. In some zones of the territory, the
speed increases to 10Mbps, this one represents the average necessary for a familiar
use or for business; and speeds of 30Mbps and 100Mbps are found at,
approximately, 55% and 44%, respectively.
It is worth noting that the access to
technologies also varies depending on the number of habitants of each locality,
so that in any population of Castilla y León with less than 1.000 habitants
there is broadband with high speeds. Only the 1,3% of the municipalities with
more than 2.000 habitants enjoy those kinds of speeds. As regards 4G mobile
connection, it reaches all the largest municipalities, but in populations with
less than 100 habitants it only reaches the 31,5% of the territory, according
to the information collected by the journalist of Zamora News, Paco
Colmenero.
In addition to the difficulties of
connection and the low connection capacity, one of the greatest problems of the
province of Zamora, is the existence of large white zones. Those zones are
rural areas that don’t have digital connection and that also have low
population density. In all Spain, there are only four provinces that have white
zones, and three of them are inside the autonomous community of Castilla y
León: Salamanca, Soria and Zamora; and the fourth is Teruel, which is located
in the autonomous community of Aragon. The white zones in Zamora in larger
towns (approximately 1.000 habitants) are, for example, Monfarracinos and
Roales. In Zamora, today, approximately 2.196.000 houses don’t have a
connection yet.
(Map of the white zones in Spain. AVANCE
DIGITAL)
The province of Zamora is also
characterized by the high number of autonomous workers (freelancers), who for
their jobs need an Internet connection with coverage, possibly to be, 100%.
That is why it is essential to increase the extension of the broadband and the
speed of technology. In order to achieve these goals, 41 operators, from all over Spain, have
committed to six projects that will work in the different regions that have
deficiencies with the connection. The plan for Zamora is the ‘National Program of Extension of the
Broadband of the New Generation’ (PEBA-NGA, according to the Spanish
acronym), it is a project that has as a main objective to unite more than 130
centers of population to the broadband, and to achieve that by 2021 the 93,45%
of the population has Internet connection with a speed of access higher than
100Mbps, a percentage that is currently standing at 81%.
This plan is going to be carried out
with the investment of 27,5 millions in Castilla y León. And both, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the General State Budget (PGE) of Spain, are going to
provide support to establish the fiber optic to the home (FTTH), but for
private operators and not for city halls or councils. In addition, Francisco
Requejo, the spokesman of the politic party of Ciudadanos and candidate for
mayor of Zamora, has explained that he wants to meet with the operators “to
give aid to entrepreneurs and companies”. This action plan is also due to the
fact that Zamora is among the last of all the Spanish provinces in what refers
to the broadband connection. And also, it is a province that has a lot of
history and also great places to visit, and a lot of people go there to visit
their families on holidays, and when they are in Zamora, they are still needing
the connection to the Internet.
(The city of Zamora. TURISMOENZAMORA)
In conclusion, we can say that this plan
is a fundamental tool for the demographic challenge and for the advancement of
the inclusive society. In addition, it is important to achieve what is planned
because, as Francisco Guarido, the mayor of Zamora has expressed, the
future relations between administration and administrated "will be through
the telematic routes". It is necessary to say that the lack of technology
in the province was one of the reasons that impelled the inclusion of the plan
in the agenda of the Ministry of Development, although there are certain rules of the European Union that hinder it. In addition,
Zamora, as we have said, is characterized by being one of the largest
unpopulated areas in Spain, next to Ourense, since, according to the Instituto
Nacional de Estadística (INE), between 2016 and 2017, Zamora lost 3,002 habitants.
As this is a difficulty for various activities such as: the creation of
long-term employment plans, the establishment of businesses or the promotion of
tourism; the best thing would be to help the growth of broadband and to
establish a level and speed of the Internet suitable for the area to be
repopulated again.
We analyze broadband and HbbTV evolution (here, the case of Zamora and Castilla and León) in this blog, in Research Group about Digital Journalism and Marketing
and Broadband and in Research Group on Innovative Monetization Systems of
Digital Journalism, Marketing and Tourism (SIMPED), from CECABLE, Escola Universitària Mediterrani of UdG, UPF and Blanquerna-URL,
in Twitter (@CECABLEresearch), in the group of LinkedIn, in the page of LinkedIn, in the group of Facebook, in Instagram (CECABLE),
in Pinterest and in this blog. We will go in
deep in the XXV Cable and Broadband Catalonia Congress (2021, Barcelona).
A nice article! Congrats, Dr. Fondevila!!!
ResponderEliminarThanks for your comment!!!
EliminarUn interesante y bonito artículo sobre una gran ciudad.
ResponderEliminar¡Muchas gracias por tu comentario, Daniel!
Eliminar¡Bonito artículo!
ResponderEliminar¡Muchas gracias por tu comentario!
EliminarLa Sociedad de la Banda Ancha es imprescindible, y así lo muestra este interesante artículo. ¡Felicidades!
ResponderEliminar¡Muchas gracias por tu comentario, María Teresa!
EliminarUn article molt maco que demostra com depenem de la genial teoria científica del Dr. Fondevila sobre la Societat de la Banda Ampla!
ResponderEliminarMoltes gràcies pel teu comentari, Angie!
EliminarUn bon article JF! molta raó respecte a la necessitat de millorar l'internet i completament entendible que a causa d'una connexió insuficient hagin emigrat milers de persones. Avui dia la necessitat d'una bona connexió és esencial en qualsevol aspecte.
ResponderEliminar