In Spain, around 6.8 million people are registered in municipalities of less than 5,000 inhabitants, many of whom lack Internet access of at least 100 Mbps
The company is committed to a strategy of proximity in physical points of sale thanks to the chain's network of more than 400 shops
Eurona, the expert in connectivity services and solutions for rural and remote areas, has teamed up with Phone House, the leading distributor of telecommunications and home services in Spain, to bring high-speed satellite Internet to second homes located in rural areas.
In this way, Eurona is committed to a proximity strategy to have a presence in physical points of sale thanks to the network of more than 400 Phone House shops throughout Spain. This capillarity will allow it to get closer to the needs of users, who will be able to contract the satellite Internet service for residential end users and SMEs on the spot.
This alliance also capitalises on the complementary strengths of both companies. In the case of Eurona, the fact that they have been leaders for more than 15 years in offering 100 megabyte Internet via satellite to rural Spain, especially to villages with less than 5,000 inhabitants. And for Phone House, the geographic capillarity provided by its shops, located not only in large cities, but also in other medium-sized cities from which to reach customers in smaller towns.
According to official population figures published by the National Statistics Institute (INE) in 2021, in Spain there are approximately 6.8 million people registered in municipalities of less than 5,000 inhabitants. In addition, according to the latest data from the Population and Housing Census, prepared by the INE, in Spain there are nearly 4 million second homes, many of which are located in towns in rural Spain and do not have access to quality Internet.
Breaking down barriers
With this alliance, Eurona and Phone House help to break down the barriers that affect some provincial capitals and small rural towns, where it is very costly to bring fibre to the historic centres due to heritage rules and the age of the houses. This is the case of San Sebastian, Granada, Santiago de Compostela, Burgos and others, where Eurona's satellite Internet service has become an option that is already available.
A total of 2.4 million Spaniards living in rural areas still do not have Internet access of at least 100 Mbps through fixed networks, according to data from the latest Broadband Report for 2021, published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation and collected by Eurona. The digital divide is a brake on equal opportunities and the socio-economic progress of inhabitants and populations.
The autonomous communities where this digital divide is still the deepest are Aragón, with 22.3%, Asturias, with 22.5%, Castilla y León, with 30.4% and Galicia, with 23%, with towns of less than 500 inhabitants being the most affected, according to the aforementioned report.
For Luis Encinas, Eurona's Director of Business Strategy, "with this agreement with Phone House we want to reach that part of the population that still does not have an ultra-fast Internet service and break down the barrier that sometimes means contracting a service by phone or through a website. Now they will be able to do it in person and advised by professionals, and they will also be able to take it with them on the spot to immediately enjoy a good quality Internet connection".
For Jaime Pfretzschner, CEO of Phone House, "in our 25 years of history we have always helped our customers with the solutions they needed for their home. Eurona offers a very differential service so that people, wherever they are, have coverage everywhere, even in the most remote places in Spain, where neither fibre nor ADSL nor 4G reach. We are sure that together we will contribute to the whole of Spain being able to enjoy the advantages that technology offers, such as watching their favourite series or making video conferences with the highest quality".
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
