ADSL is on its way to disappearing from homes and offices in Spain. This technology, which brought the Internet into the home in the early 2000s, has fallen into disuse in recent years due to the relentless advance of fiber optics, which offers a more stable and faster Internet connection.
It is the main teleoperators in the country – Telefónica, Vodafone and Orange – that are carrying out the ADSL blackout by closing the copper cable exchanges, the material that allows the ADSL connection. In total there are 8,526 plants spread throughout Spain, according to data from the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC). Its closure is being carried out in a phased manner. In fact, it started ten years ago and has accelerated in the last two, with the announcement by Movistar (Telefónica) of the definitive shutdown on April 19.
The company, which is the largest teleoperator in Spain, has chosen the day that turns 100 years old to complete the transition towards fiber optics as a symbol of technological advancement over time. Company sources assure that no one will be left without service in this technological migration. Movistar will offer its customers connection through fiber optics, which covers more than 80% of the Spanish territory, and more than 90% in the Catalan case. If this service is not available, these sources assure that Movistar will offer internet via ultra-broadband connections, that is, by satellite or radio frequency. The price, these sources point out, will remain in the same conditions, or very similar.
Why is this blackout happening now? Company sources explain that a European Union directive forces teleoperators to eliminate copper in favor of ultra-broadband connections because their environmental footprint is smaller. The obligation to turn off this type of connection is not immediate, they say, but Spain has made progress and is one of the first countries in the European Union to comply with this regulation.
The rest of the teleoperators also follow the same path. Vodafone has announced that before the summer arrives it will dismantle all its copper plants in Spain, which number more than 1,000. And Orange, which has recently merged with MásMóvil, has also announced the shutdown of its copper plants in the country. Although there is no definitive date, the CNMC estimates that in 2025, at the latest, ADSL will completely disappear.
Currently, some 440,000 private users continue to use this service. This is a figure that has plummeted in the last ten years. In 2014, 9.4 million consumers used ADSL, according to data from the CNMC, which controls free competition in a sector that provides a service as basic as internet connection.
The blackout of the copper exchanges, which were previously also used to connect the landline telephone line, not only responds to the obsolescence of this technology but is also due to a cost optimization strategy on the part of the companies. teleoperators. The maintenance cost of fiber optics is transmitted through small plastic cables, less cumbersome and less susceptible to damage than copper cables.
Once the copper plants are closed, the question arises about the whereabouts of the waste copper cables that lie completely unusable in the ground.
