With the closure of 661 exchanges on May 27, the operator completes its transition to a fully fiber-optic network, marking the end of a historic era in Spanish telecommunications.
The network that brought the Internet to millions of homes in Spain for over two decades has said goodbye. Telefónica España turned off the last 661 copper exchanges last Monday, thus concluding a technological transformation process that officially makes it a full fiber infrastructure company.
Since the late 1990s, when ADSL became the gateway to the web for individuals and businesses, copper was the foundation of an unprecedented digital revolution. The shared use of the telephone line for voice and data allowed Spaniards to become familiar with concepts that are now commonplace, such as always-on connections, flat rates, and simultaneous browsing while on calls.
Telefónica’s Communications Manager, Paz Noriega, reflected on this milestone in an emotional post: “More than 25 years have passed since Telefónica pioneered the transmission of data over the same cable that carried voice […] Today, the last exchanges are being turned off, and we are now a full fiber company, technological, digitized, and ready for whatever comes next.”
A Planned and Ambitious Transition
Telefónica began the gradual shutdown of its copper network in 2016, with a schedule that included over 8,500 exchanges. The goal: to completely replace an analog technology with a fiber-optic network that ensures higher speeds, lower latency, and a significant reduction in energy consumption.
The plan has been hailed by industry experts as one of the most ambitious network modernization processes in the world, playing a key role in positioning Spain as one of the countries with the highest fiber-optic coverage in Europe.
Unlike other operators that opted for intermediate technologies like VDSL, Telefónica decisively bet on fiber to the home (FTTH), deploying kilometers of optical cable even in rural areas, with an investment that has exceeded €10 billion in recent years.
The End of a Cycle, Memories of a Network
The retirement of copper also symbolizes the closure of an era that marked a generation: that of noisy modems, routers with microfilters, and the first web pages. Many employees who participated in that transformation fondly remember the beginnings, as Noriega pays tribute to key figures from the company’s past: Jesús Figueroa, Juan Romeo Zabaleta, Paco Quintana, Alejandro Alonso, among others.
While copper is retiring with dignity, fiber-optic technology represents a future full of possibilities. Telefónica is now entering a phase of consolidation for its digital network, ready to tackle new challenges like cloud computing, distributed artificial intelligence, and 5G and 6G networks.
A Milestone with Environmental and Social Impact
The shutdown of copper also brings ecological benefits. The fiber network is more energy-efficient and reduces the carbon footprint, in line with the company’s sustainability goals. Additionally, the replacement of equipment and materials opens up new opportunities for recycling components and the circular economy.
Telefónica has collaborated with local entities to ensure that the process does not leave any user without a connection, progressively migrating customers to the new network.
The closure of copper exchanges is not only a technical milestone. It is the farewell to an infrastructure that, as Noriega reminds us, “brought us here” and now makes way for a faster, more efficient, and connected future.
A network that is shutting down, but lives on in the memories of all who once surfed the web with it.
Source: LinkedIn