Connectivity, digital divide and social impact: Onivia in Corresponsables

Juanma Garate, Head of Legal at Onivia, discusses in Corresponsables the role of neutral fibre in reducing the digital divide

“Connecting more territories is not just about growing, it is about reducing the digital divide and generating real social impact.”

With this idea, Juanma Garate, Head of Legal at Onivia, summarises in an interview with Corresponsables how connectivity is part of the company’s social impact and of its model as a neutral and independent wholesale fibre operator in Spain.

In the interview, Juanma explains that Onivia’s social impact is directly linked to its business model: enabling operators of different sizes to access a shared, open and neutral fibre network under equal conditions.

838 rural communities connected

One of the key figures highlighted in the interview is Onivia’s presence in 838 rural communities, many of them with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants.

Juanma underlines that, in these territories, infrastructure is essential to help reduce the digital divide. Without connectivity, services such as telehealth, remote working and online education lose their capacity to create impact.

The shared and neutral network model allows several operators to use the same infrastructure, helping to distribute costs and making deployment more viable in lower-density areas.

Services to move towards more accessible and efficient connectivity

During the interview, Juanma also refers to different Onivia solutions that respond to specific connectivity needs.

Among them, he highlights [Fibra Empresas], an FTTH solution designed for professional environments and aimed at facilitating SMEs’ access to quality connectivity.

He also mentions [Fibra X], Onivia’s service offering symmetrical speeds of up to 10 Gb/s, responding to the need for greater capacity, speed and quality that will shape the coming years.

Another service mentioned is [Fibra FLEX], a seasonal solution that allows fibre connectivity to be activated or deactivated according to the end customer’s actual usage.

Connected to Care: connectivity applied to care

The interview also features [Connected to Care], an initiative by Onivia with Fundación Grandes Amigos that uses Wi-Fi signals already present in the home, combined with artificial intelligence, to identify activity patterns among older people living alone.

As Juanma explains, this solution makes it possible to detect risk situations without cameras or invasive devices, bringing a new dimension to the role of connectivity in care, autonomy and people’s safety.

ESG integrated into Onivia’s strategy

Another key point in the interview is the integration of sustainability into the company.

Juanma explains that in 2024 Onivia internalised its ESG functions and has a Sustainability Committee made up of shareholders and the CEO, which meets quarterly and escalates its decisions to the Board of Directors.

In addition, the company carries out weekly monitoring of ESG actions with key areas and tracks its impact through KPIs and specific actions.

From an environmental perspective, the interview highlights the value of the infrastructure-sharing model, which helps avoid network duplication. It also notes that Onivia has completed its first GHG inventory for 2023, 2024 and 2025, has started the SBTi validation process and is progressing with its Net Zero 2050 Transition Plan.

An interview about connectivity, sustainability and real impact

The conversation published by Corresponsables reflects a clear vision: fibre is not just infrastructure, but a lever to reduce the digital divide, improve access to services, promote territorial cohesion and move towards connectivity with social impact.

You can read the full interview in Corresponsables here.