Cellnex and Telefónica expand their agreement to strengthen the energy resilience of their network to 3,800 sites

• The first agreement of its kind in Spain, announced in January 2026 and already completed, covered the installation of batteries at more than 2,000 sites
• With this new commitment, both companies are anticipating the forthcoming Royal Decree on the Resilience of Communications Networks and will provide a minimum of two hours of backup power at 100% of the sites

 Madrid, 23 July 2026.- Cellnex and Telefónica have reached a new agreement to strengthen the energy resilience of up to 3,800 telecommunications sites in Spain. The agreement expands on the one announced in January 2026, which aimed to secure energy autonomy at more than 2,000 sites and has already been completed. Once the second deployment phase is finished, in June 2027, the project will guarantee a minimum of two hours of backup power at all sites and position Telefónica at the forefront of telecommunications infrastructure resilience in Europe.

The agreement enables Cellnex and Telefónica to continue making progress towards compliance with the Government’s proposed Royal Decree on the Security and Resilience of Electronic Communications Networks and Services. Under this legislative proposal, which is expected to be approved by the end of this year, mobile network operators will be required to guarantee a minimum of four hours of backup power at radio access network sites covering up to 75% of Spain’s population. To achieve this, operators will be able to deploy the necessary batteries over a three-year period, progressively reaching population coverage thresholds of 50%, 65% and 75%.

With this commitment, both companies are anticipating the future regulatory framework and going beyond its requirements by providing a minimum of two hours of backup power at 100% of their sites.

Alfonso Álvarez, CEO of Cellnex Iberia, said: “Telecommunications networks are critical infrastructure, and their resilience is essential to keeping key services operational for society, including public administration, security and economic activity. At Cellnex, we aim to be the partner of choice for customers such as Telefónica, leveraging our industrial and operational capabilities to accelerate deployments, meet resilience commitments and contribute to robust network coverage and quality for their customers.”

Borja Ochoa, Chairman of Telefónica Spain, said: “We continue working to ensure that Telefónica’s network stands out from the competition. Having completed the first phase in record time, we are expanding the deployment to 3,800 sites and anticipating the future regulatory framework, strengthening the quality and continuity of our services through a pioneering plan to build an even more robust network. This is another step in our commitment to leading connectivity in Spain and being the best gateway to digital technologies.”

Last February, Cellnex presented its Vertical Solutions Business Unit, which included a new “Energy as a Service” (EaaS) business offering. Cellnex is a key and trusted player in the critical infrastructure sector, bringing its expertise in related fields—including broadcasting and emergency communications services—to work proactively with the industry and its partners to strengthen network resilience and ensure the delivery of telecommunications services with guaranteed quality.