The CNMC has determined that Cellnex continues to hold SMP in the wholesale terrestrial transmission market and is assessing its proposed commitments to replace existing regulatory obligations
Despite the rise of streaming services, DTT remains important in Spain
On 14 August 2026, the Spanish National Markets and Competition (CNMC) launched a public consultation on its review of the wholesale market for terrestrial television transmission (previously market 18 in the EC’s list of relevant markets). It found that Cellnex continues to hold significant market power, and is consulting on a list of proposed commitments that Cellnex submitted as a possible replacement for existing regulatory obligations introduced after the last market review in 2019. The CNMC noted the continued importance of DTT despite the rise of streaming services, as it generated around €173m (£148m) in 2025 and accounted for 71% of linear TV consumption in Spain. Its near-universal availability and free-to-air model also make it an important means of accessing news. Spain’s national public broadcaster RTVE is not funded by a licence fee model, but instead receives a mixture of funding from the state and from levies on pay-TV operators, TV channels (the former is the distribution company while the latter is the individual station creating the shows), and streaming services. There are currently no plans to switch-off DTT in Spain, and this wasn’t considered during the review (licences remain valid until 2040). The CNMC is assessing whether ex-ante regulation is necessary to promote competition in this market, as Cellnex controls an extensive network of transmission infrastructure used by television operators to broadcast on DTT channels.
Cellnex found to still hold significant market power with little change to the market structure since the last review
In this latest review, the CNMC found that Cellnex continues to hold significant market power in the wholesale terrestrial transmission market. The regulator noted the significant barriers to entry in this market, as Cellnex controls the only nationwide DTT broadcasting network, giving it exclusive access to an essential and difficult-to-replicate input for providing service to national broadcasters. An alternative operator would also need to build an extensive network of transmission sites, requiring significant investment, with further challenges to entry due to the high switching costs that broadcasters would incur if they changed providers. In 2019, the CNMC introduced obligations for Cellnex requiring it to provide competitors with colocation and interconnection services, alongside transparency requirements. In this review, the CNMC found that although alternative operators have made greater use of these services, the competitive structure of the market has not materially changed, and alternative operators continue to depend substantially on infrastructure controlled by Cellnex.
Cellnex has proposed commitments to help ease barriers to entry in a bid to replace some existing obligations
On 3 June 2026, Cellnex submitted a proposal of commitments intended to replace certain existing regulatory obligations, to be taken into consideration during the CNMC’s review, including:
Continuing to provide access to its infrastructure through co-location and interconnection;
Offering third-party operators who request access to its infrastructure reasonable prices, which will be public at all times; and
Providing five years of price stability, with prices updated by reference to inflation (CPI).
The commitment to price stability will replace accounting obligations and regulator-enforced prices introduced in the 2019 review. The CNMC will assess whether these commitments adequately achieve its regulatory objectives, although it has stated that acceptance of these commitments would not imply complete deregulation of the market, as this would not effectively promote competition in the medium-term. The CNMC’s market review and Cellnex’s proposed commitments will be open for consultation until 30 September 2026.
