Orange Spain boosted 5G options in the nation, launching a commercial service in five cities around a week after rival Telefonica opened the door to its own consumer offer.

In a blog, Orange said its 5G service was now live at no additional cost to customers in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville and Malaga, predominantly in central areas.

The service uses the 3.6GHz to 3.8GHz band and covers around 30 per cent of each city. Orange plans to expand availability to other cities in the coming months.

General Director of IT in the country, Monica Sala, noted the evolution towards a digital economy and society had become “more urgent than ever” in light of the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, and the company hoped to “promote the development of the country” with its 5G launch.

Rival Telefonica launched 5G service in selected areas of Spain last week, targeting 75 per cent coverage of the nation by the year-end.

Vodafone Spain, meanwhile, began offering 5G services in mid-2019.