Orange will commercially launch 4G services in Spain in July. The 4G offering will be available in 6 Spanish cities, namely Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Malaga and Murcia, starting with 8 July.
Orange plans to gradually expand its 4G services coverage to 15 cities with over 12 million inhabitants by year-end. The other nine cities included in the project are Zaragoza, Bilbao, La Coruna, Palma de Mallorca, Las Palmas, Alicante, Cordoba, Valladolid and Vigo.
Orange plans to invest nearly USD 1.1 billion in its 4G deployment in Spain.
Orange will initially provide the service using the 1.800 MHz and 2.600 MHz spectrum. Following the January 2014 deadline for allocation of the digital dividend in Spain, Orange also plans to use the 800 MHz spectrum to provide 4G services.
The operator will initially offer 4G-enabled smartphones and tablets from LG, Sony, HTC, Huawei and Samsung, and will add other manufacturers to its offering over the next months.
TeliaSonera’s subsidiary Yoigo has also recently announced it will launch 4G services in July. The 4G service will initially be available in Madrid, and will be extended to the largest cities in Spain by the end of this year.
