The Spanish Government will finance DTT migration with grants – to be specified in 2019 – to citizens and TV operators. State Secretary for Digital Advance, Francisco Polo, said the grants will be included in the next State Budget.

The migration will start in January 2019 and will be initially completed in 2020 if no moratorium is approved. The release of 700MHz band will allow telco operators to offer 5G services and at the same time will force viewers to adjust the antennas and possibly buy new TV equipment.

Telco operators have already paid €438 million for part of the frequencies, but the largest part is still to be auctioned. In the previous DTT migration in 2014 the Government contributed €280 million – an amount now regarded as not enough to finance the migration. Around eight million homes will be affected by the readjustment with a cost of between €20 and €25 per household.

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