Power outage
The great blackout on 28 April 2025 plunged the peninsula into darkness… and blew mobile coverage sky‑high, leaving us cut off in the 21st century.
A crisis that could be avoided by installing generators on the antennas for less than one cent per month per line—if regulation dared to demand it.
The day the peninsula went dark… and coverage crashed
Power outage, 28 April 2025, 12:33 p.m.
By 5 p.m. almost no phone showed bars. Darkness was no longer only in the light bulbs: it was in our pockets.
The surprise is that we are surprised
Years ago, when voices still travelled through copper wires, we could make calls without mains power. Exchanges had their own batteries and the desktop phone did not depend on a router plugged into the wall.
Today everything is IP, fibre and 5G… and everything drinks from the same meter. Result: turn off the power grid and the communications ecosystem falls like dominoes. Only FM/TV broadcasts and TETRA emergency networks held out, because they do have generators contracted for up to five days.
Does the law oblige operators to maintain connectivity… or not?
- General Telecommunications Act 11/2022: requires “guaranteeing service continuity” but sets no minimum hours of autonomy and makes no mention of generators at base stations.
- Royal Decree 443/2024 (5G ENS): speaks of “recovery plans”, but leaves it to the operator’s discretion which measures to take.
- Conclusion: in Spain there is no obligation to install generators at every mobile antenna—tower cos and operators themselves admit it.
How many antennas do we really have?
| Infrastructure | Sites | Antennas (sectors) | Main owners |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile network | ~40,000 | ~60,000 | American Tower, Cellnex, Vantage, Totem |
How much would it cost to give them an engine?
Guideline price of a sound‑proofed 15 kVA diesel generator with automatic start: €10,000 installed (€6,000 equipment + €4,000 logistics). Doing it antenna by antenna (60 k) brings the bill to €600 M. Focusing on sites (40 k) would be €400 M.
And if we share the bill (once again) with the affected users?
| Scenario | One‑off cost per line | Amortised over 10 years | Monthly equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 k antennas | €9.8 | €0.98 / year | €0.08 / month |
| 40 k sites | €6.5 | €0.65 / year | €0.05 / month |
If it’s so cheap, why isn’t it done?
- Total cost < 2 % of annual mobile network investment.
- Urban barriers: noise, space and emissions on city rooftops.
- Low‑cost business model: operators selling minutes at coffee prices.
- Absence of regulatory obligation: with no penalty or incentive, the reform stays in the drawer.
Final reflection
Being left in the dark is serious; being left disconnected when the solution is as simple as a washing‑machine‑sized diesel engine is, quite simply, third‑world. We love to boast about fibre all the way to the fridge and 1 Gbps downloads, yet the stress test lasted three hours. Old‑school copper, with all its mothball smell, reminds us that resilience isn’t an app or a 5G logo: it’s having a plan B with fuel in the tank.
Maybe it’s time for regulation to break the inertia and for the mobile bill to include—for less than a cent a day—the insurance of not being cut off the next time the lights go out.Oleguer Serra Boixaderas – May 2025
Lawmakers who haven’t legislated until now should be ashamed and get to work.