Satellite broadband connections in Spain have increased almost tenfold in three years, driven by the arrival of low Earth orbit services led by Elon Musk’s Starlink.
A new report from Spain’s National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) says the number of satellite internet connections increased from just over 10,000 at the end of 2022 to almost 100,000 at the end of 2025.
Despite the rapid increase, satellite represents only around 0.5% of Spain’s fixed broadband connections, reflecting the country’s extensive fibre-to-the-home coverage. However, the CNMC says satellite has an important role in providing connectivity in rural and remote locations.
The growth has coincided with the emergence of low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations. Their substantially lower altitude compared with traditional geostationary satellites reduces latency and has helped improve the performance of satellite broadband.
According to the regulator, almost 90% of satellite connections now provide speeds between 100 and 300 Mbps.
Starlink, operated by SpaceX, has been the principal driver of recent growth. The CNMC also identifies Eutelsat’s OneWeb, Amazon LEO, Viasat, Hispasat and Iridium among companies operating or planning satellite services in Spain.
The regulator says the market is also developing beyond residential broadband. Satellite networks are increasingly being used for maritime and aeronautical communications, enterprise connectivity, IoT, government applications and emergency services.
One emerging area is direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity, in which conventional mobile devices communicate directly with satellites when terrestrial mobile coverage is unavailable.
The technology received a high-profile demonstration in Spain during wildfires affecting parts of Madrid, Ávila and Toledo in July. Following emergency authorisation from the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures, a satellite-to-mobile service involving Starlink, Orange and Telefónica was used for the first time in the country.
The CNMC expects satellite communications to continue growing as LEO constellations expand and satellite networks become more closely integrated with 5G and eventually 6G networks.
However, it does not expect satellite to displace Spain’s terrestrial broadband infrastructure. Instead, the regulator sees the technology principally as a complement to fibre and mobile networks, providing coverage and resilience in locations where terrestrial infrastructure is unavailable or inadequate.
Source: https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2026/09/30/satellite-broadband-connections-surge-tenfold-in-spain/
