The company completes the shutdown of its copper exchanges and definitively closes the ADSL chapter, after more than 25 years of technological history.
A symbol of the Internet's early decades has come to an end. Telefónica Spain has shut down the last 661 copper central offices., marking the definitive end of the ADSL era in our country. What for years was the gateway to the network for millions of people quietly bids farewell, after a long transition toward fiber optics.
On May 27, not only was equipment shut down. Part of Spaniards' collective technological memory also faded: the modems with their distinctive sound, the microfilters in every socket, the wait to connect, the sharing of bandwidth at home... all of that was made possible thanks to an infrastructure designed for telephony, which ultimately supported the digital revolution.
ADSL: a technology that changed our lives
In the late 1990s, Telefónica found an ingenious solution to extend Internet access without having to build a new network: To use the same copper wires through which the voice traveled.. This is how ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) was born, which allowed millions of households to connect to the Internet without occupying the telephone line.
"It was a genuine revolution: permanent connection, a flat-rate plan, and the possibility of browsing the web and talking on the phone at the same time," they recalled on social media. Paz Noriega, Telefónica's Communications Manager. Today the last power plants are being shut down, and we are already a full-fiber company, ready for whatever comes.
A goodbye with a taste of pride.
Far from being a mere technical change, the closure of copper plants is a demonstration of how Spain has managed to evolve its digital infrastructure. with a long-term vision. Telefónica began the shutdown in 2016 and has been a pioneer in the large-scale deployment of fiber optics, even in rural areas, without stopping at intermediate steps such as VDSL.
With this transformation, Spain positions itself as one of the leading countries in connectivity, with a fiber coverage above 90% of the territory and one of the world's most modern networks.
A network that made history.
Those who lived through the early days of the Internet in Spain will not forget names such as Infovía, Terra, or the first routers with a web interface. Neither the hours of slow browsing, nor the infinitely long loading times. All of it passed through those copper wires that today make way for the glass of the optical fiber.
As Noriega rightly points out, 'the network that brought us here bids farewell with honor.' And he does it in silence, but with the recognition of those who know that without her, There would not have been a digital boom, nor social networks, nor the cloud economy..
The future belongs to fiber… and beyond
The end of copper allows Telefónica to operate as a 100% digital company, with a faster, efficient and sustainable network. Fiber not only reduces costs and improves speed, but also uses less energy and enables new services such as 5G, artificial intelligence, or telework.
Moreover, the closure of this infrastructure allows progress toward the operator's sustainability goals, by reducing the carbon footprint and promoting the recycling of materials.
The age of copper has ended, but its legacy endures. Because every great technological story begins with a first connection… and in Spain, that connection traveled for decades through copper wires.
Today a network goes dark, but a new chapter in the digital history of our country begins.
Source: LinkedIN and News cloud
