- The fiber optic installation in Spain constitutes two million kilometers of unused cabling.
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| Red Eléctrica and Lyntia, owners of 90% of the 'dark fiber' in Spain / Pixabay |
Spain has two million kilometers of cabling of what is known in telecommunications as 'dark fiber', of which 90% is owned by the companies Red Eléctrica and Lyntia.
These are data published on the website of the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) about this optical fiber installed in Spain and that is unused.
It is a 'turned off' fiber housed in underground tubes installed by network service providers and which have a capacity greater than the current demand for communications.
When the 'telecos' cannot use the networks that Telefónica is obliged to rent to them, they can resort to the 'dark fiber'. It can also be used by administrations and companies for data connection and storage.
According to data from the CNMC, of the two million kilometers of fiber 'without electricity in the national territory, Red Eléctrica has almost half, 938,000 kilometers, distributed between electric transport and the railway network.
It is followed by the neutral operator Lyntia, which in 2019 became the second-largest player in the market after acquiring the exploitation rights from Iberdrola, and which owns 684,000 kilometers.
The next 'players' with the largest portions of the 'dark fiber' cake are Xarxa Oberta (147,000 kilometers), Correos (68,000), Interoute (9,800), and Blalink (8,900).