Spanish carrier Telefónica has indicated that it will install fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) connections across the Spanish capital this year, with 1.3 million homes and businesses in Madrid to be provided with 100Mbps connections.

This new initiative is intended to place the city in the vanguard of global technology, and comparable to other well-connected capital cities such as Seoul and Tokyo.

Telefónica has already started the project in districts including Hortaleza, Arganzuela, Moncloa-Aravaca and Fuencarral-El Pardo, using a team of around 2,200 engineers.

Deployment will continue throughout this year in other neighbourhoods across the city, with the aim of connecting over 80 per cent of homes and businesses to the FTTH network by the end of this year.

Outside of the capital, Telfónica has already installed fibre networks in towns such as Pozuelo, Majadahonda, San Sebastián de los Reyes, Tres Cantos, Las Rozas, Alacalá de Henares and Alcobendas.

By the end of the first quarter of this year, Telefónica had covered 1.3 million homes and businesses across Spain with its fibre footprint, with over 200,000 active customers.