Spain To Require Carriers To Keep Mobile Networks Live During Power Outages
6 108An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Spain will require mobile networks to have backup systems that maintain connectivity when power outages occur. Per a royal decree that will be approved by the end of 2026, mobile network operators (MNOs) and infrastructure companies will need to install batteries or other backups to keep service active for at least four hours during a blackout.
The mobile network rules will apply to businesses that serve at least 500,000 users or generate upwards of 50 million euros ($56.9 million) in annual revenue. The decree will stipulate that half of the population will need to be covered by this failsafe within the first year, then 65 percent in the second year and three quarters in the third.
[...] The decree will require other key infrastructure elements to remain up and running for a certain period after a power outage. For instance, control centers that could impact all of Spain if they were to go offline will need to remain in service for at least 24 hours. Emergency call centers will also need to have plans in place to maintain operations, as Reuters notes. The move is in response to the widespread blackout across the Iberian peninsula in 2025, which left more than 50 million people without power. Experts called it "the most severe and unprecedented blackout that had occurred in Europe in the past 20 years."
6 comments
Re:Full Circle (Score: 5, Informative)
by awwshit ( 6214476 ) on Friday June 26, 2026 @12:11AM (#66211348)
Ever see the giant batteries at your local Central Office that made that work?
Something like this:
https://www.facebook.com/photo... [facebook.com]
Re:Full Circle (Score: 5, Interesting)
by Firethorn ( 177587 ) on Friday June 26, 2026 @01:17AM (#66211386)
I remember that, but things have improved a lot. A cell tower only takes 1-8kW, and we have drastically better batteries.
Plus, a lot fewer land lines, so need to keep the towers up for emergency services.
Re:Full Circle (Score: 5, Informative)
by Tapewolf ( 1639955 ) on Friday June 26, 2026 @04:27AM (#66211510)
All mobile towers have battery backup. It's a question of time. 24 hours is a lot and I wonder if the people who thought about this considered how achievable this was, especially if your network has a lot of micro cells.
24 hours is for critical infrastructure, "Control centers" as the summary puts it. For cell towers, they only mandated 4 hours which should be a lot easier.
Re:cost? (Score: 5, Insightful)
by Alain Williams ( 2972 ) on <addw@phcomp.co.uk> on Friday June 26, 2026 @03:05AM (#66211444)
What will the cost of not doing this be to: customers, emergency services, ... ?
Re:You mean they somehow didnâ(TM)t before? (Score: 5, Informative)
by test321 ( 8891681 ) on Friday June 26, 2026 @03:03AM (#66211442)
Nordic:
* Finland: Requirement for 4G is 15 min https://www.kyberturvallisuusk... [kyberturva...skeskus.fi]
* Norway: used to be 2-4 hours; was increased to 8-24 hours after the Spanish blackout https://www.telenor.com/who-we... [telenor.com]
Non-Nordic:
* Netherlands (as comparison): These people say the network crashes in 4-8 hours https://www.localmesh.nl/en/co... [localmesh.nl]
I'm surprised this wasn't already required (Score: 5, Insightful)
by v1 ( 525388 ) on Friday June 26, 2026 @08:05AM (#66211652)
Here in the USA anyway, cellular service has been considered "critical infrastructure" for quite some time now, mostly due to the decline of landlines. 9-1-1 having high availability has been legally required for a long time, and those requirements shifted to the cellular network as people ditched their land-lines for cell phones at home. So all the towers have short-term (15+ minute) UPS's and a gas generator that auto starts, with requirements to run periodic tests.
The other part of it though is the towers nowadays require internet access to function. We had a massive storm system move through the area a few years ago with close to tornado-speed "straight-line winds" that took out a huge amount of above-ground internet infrastructure, rendering cell towers functionally disabled despite giving out full bars. There were a few lines still up but everyone's home internet was either down or spotty, and it was hard to get a cell call to connect. Was llke that for 2-3 weeks, really annoying.
So, power's not the only thing that needs to be protected to keep cellular service working.