Castilla y Le\u00f3n, with an area of almost 95,000 square kilometers and 2,248 municipalities, is the largest region in Europe. However, less than 3% of its municipalities have more than 5,000 inhabitants and barely 1% have more than 20,000. This demographic fragmentation poses a considerable challenge in terms of digitization, especially at a time when connectivity and access to digital services are key to curbing depopulation. <\/p>\n
During his speech at the meeting ” Digitalization and Demographic Challenge<\/strong><\/span>“as part of the special recording of the podcast ” Connecting the RURAL to the world<\/a><\/strong>” Asteo Red Neutra<\/strong> at the Aotec25 Technology Fair<\/strong>, Luis Enrique Ortega Arnaiz<\/a>, deputy minister for Digital Transformation of the Junta de Castila y Le\u00f3n<\/a><\/strong>together with the journalist Pilar Bernat<\/strong> and Pedro Abad<\/strong>, CEO of the neutral wholesale operator, highlighted the importance of connectivity for rural areas to continue advancing and fulfill the Spanish Government’s commitment to achieve 100% broadband coverage by the end of 2025. <\/p>\n Pedro Abad<\/strong>, CEO of Asteo Red Neutra<\/strong>, stressed that the deployment of digital infrastructures in these territories entails multiple technical and administrative challenges. “What lies ahead of us requires a supreme effort from all the private and public entities involved,” he said. The company has already deployed a backbone network of more than 2,400 kilometers of fiber optics, connecting rural areas in provinces such as Burgos, Salamanca and Segovia. <\/p>\n “Thanks to this large trunk line, it allows us to provide the same service in municipality A as in municipality Z in the sequence,” Abad explained. Although these 50,000 inhabitants are spread over 200 municipalities, Asteo treats them “as if they were one big city”, from a technical point of view. <\/p>\nPublic-private cooperation and deployment of fiber optic networks in rural areas<\/strong><\/h2>\n