- Movistar targets 5G expansion; network used for remote surgery pilot.
- Telefónica España (Movistar) launched a 5G network expansion campaign focused on increased coverage at beaches and coastal towns. The programme will include heightened reliance on the 700MHz frequency, with “more than 500” sites expected to be switched on in the coming months. Movistar aims to launch 700MHz base stations in 1,400 municipalities by the end of 2022, increasing to 2,400 by the end of the following year.
- A €6m fine handed to Telefónica in 2017 has been reduced to €50,000 by Spain’s National Court. The country’s Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia issued the levy to the operator for not taking responsibility for line rental faults. According to an El País report, in May 2022 the National Court found that the infraction was not as major as initially ruled and thus lowered the fine.
- Movistar and Altice Portugal partnered to support a remote surgery trial. The operators’ 5G networks were used to enable breast cancer surgery to take place in Lisbon with support from a surgeon in Zaragoza. The surgeons were equipped with Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 virtual reality headsets, using software developed by Germany’s remAID.
- Orange Spain’s budget brand Simyo extended its fibre offer on Movistar’s fibre‑to-the‑premises network. Simyo said it expanded its coverage to 2,000 additional towns, taking its total coverage to 27 million Spanish premises.
- Food producer Uvesa Group partnered Movistar to lead its digitalisation programme. Movistar deployed data‑ and voice‑based cloud network solutions at Uvesa facilities in Spain, based on its FlexWAN software‑defined network. Uvesa also incorporated a cloud control system from Hewlett Packard Enterprise subsidiary Aruba to work alongside the FlexWAN platform. FlexWAN was launched in 2017 with an initial focus on enterprise customers in Spain (Telefónicawatch, #118).
- Movistar was beaten to an Andalusian emergency services network contract by a partnership between Asterion‑owned towers operator Axion and Cellnex subsidiary Tradia. The pair’s €14.8m bid bested propositions from Movistar and a consortium of Vodafone Spain and Indra Sistemas, both of which priced the contract at more than €20m, according to documents seen by Europa Press. The deal will see Axión and Tradia deploy and maintain a mobile network for use by the region’s security and emergency services. The European Regional Development Fund will finance 80% of the contract.
- Movistar’s pay‑TV service Movistar Plus+ added four new channels to its roster, showing films segregated by theme. The channels include cult classics, best films of the year, and movies related to video games, according to ADSL Zone.