Telecommunications
To enable the development of the railway activity standard
One of Adif Alta Velocidad's tasks is the management of its telecommunications infrastructure, a fibre optic network some 16,000 kilometres in length that extends along the rail lines linking with the main provincial capitals of Spain.
In this sense, the public entity attached to the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, in addition to using its fibre optic network to provide support for railway operation services, has been offering infrastructure and services to the different telecommunications operators in the sector in our country, as a way of optimising surplus capacity and collaborating in global technological development.
In the area of railway operation, the Adif and Adif Alta Velocidad telecommunications network makes it possible to carry out normal railway activity in its various aspects, while enabling the development and implementation of the latest technologies related to railway management, such as the high-speed signalling system known as ERTMS or the GSM-R mobile communications model, among others.
However, once rail traffic’s inherent communications needs have been provided for, excess network capacity provides benefits for society in two ways:
the investment in improving and building new infrastructures.
it facilitates the provision of new telecommunication technologies to society
In this context, Adif Alta Velocidad is the leading comprehensive neutral provider and manager of telecommunications infrastructures for operators in the Spanish market, with an extensive fibre optic network distributed along the railway infrastructure to cover the whole of mainland Spain, also interconnecting with France and Portugal and with networks that facilitate access to island coverage.
At present, and since 2014, Adif Alta Velocidad's Dark Fibre Optic Network has been awarded by public tender. The concession period for these assets, which will continue to be owned by Adif Alta Velocidad, is 20 years.
Optical fibres currently in use by the railway system, which represent, in general terms, around 25% of the capacity of the conventional network cable, have been expressly excluded from the concession.
Adif-AV manages the fibre optic network with the high standards of quality and specialisation necessary to be part of a highly competitive market. For this purpose, Adif AV has a Permanent Service Centre (CAP), which is responsible for customer service and has tools that allow it to visualise the supervision of the fibre optic network on a permanent basis, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, through different management systems: SSFO (Real Time Fibre Optic Supervision System), SSPE (Supervision and Remote Control System for Electricity Supply in Electricity Parks), SSPAV (High-Speed Line Alarms Supervision System) and GIS (Geographic Information System).
Adif Alta Velocidad's priority objective has always been continuous improvement, which has been the focus of almost all the investments made in this area since the launch of the project. A significant way to raise the level of service reliability is to invest in strengthening the network by improving the areas most susceptible to incidents and where access for repair work presents considerable difficulties. To this end, an Investment Plan was established for the years ahead, which has been transferred to the new concessionaire.
In addition, and as part of the different agreements established with the current operator, Adif Alta Velocidad is collaborating in the development of the Investment Plan, as well as providing technical and commercial advice, at least during the first few years of the contract, both centrally and across Spain. Performing the functions of Network and Engineering Manager for Clients.
