Spain to reduce RTVE tax on telcos
May 10, 2021
From David Del Valle in Madrid
In a move to boost 5G, the Spanish government is set reduce the RTVE tax that telco operators pay annually, and will cut the initial pricing set in the 5G public auction to take place later this month (or June latest).
The deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, laid out these measures -that will be included in the forthcoming plan that will lay the 5G map in the country.
Telco operators will pay a lower bill than the €120 million they currently pay to RTVE to comply with their legal obligation to dedicate 0.9 per cent of their revenues to partly finance the public TV broadcaster. The operators had been demanding the elimination of the tax since its introduction, deeming it an unfair burden.
Additionally, the Administration will cut the price of the initial bid in the 5G public auction initially set at €1.17 billion for the 700 Mhz band, so that the operators can reduce therr final bill for the awarding of the licences and the total estimated investment of €5-6 billion. Also, the 5G deployment plan will be more flexible (initially operators were obliged to extend 5G to 100 per cent of cities with population 20,000-50,000 inhabitants within three years) and more public funds will be destined to finance the 5G extension.
Thus, the Administration will allocate €4 billion to help boost connectivity and the 5G deployment, dedicating €812 million to extend the ultra high broadband abd €1.5 billion in public funds specifically dedicated to 5G networks.
In addition, the Administration has also extended to 40 years the durarion of the 5G licences.