Six contenders have put forward bids for a €376 million contract to overhaul Catalonia’s public network infrastructure. The tender marks a decisive phase in the Generalitat’s largest telecom procurement to date. The Centre de Telecomunicacions i Tecnologies de la Informació (CTTI) confirmed that individual companies and consortia are vying to shape the digital backbone of the region’s public sector.
Telefónica, Sirt, and Econocom are bidding individually, each seeking a share of the multi-lot agreement. The other three offers come from consortia. Deutsche Telekom features in one, while Orange and Nunsys appear in the remaining bids. The contract is divided into several lots, with a principal block of €206 million earmarked for deploying and managing institutional data networks across Catalan government entities.
The tender aims to reduce operational data costs and strengthen cybersecurity. It also targets high-capacity connections at administrative nodes. The outcome will directly affect connectivity and digital services in public offices, hospitals, and schools, as well as police stations across the region.
Legal disputes have marked recent CTTI tenders, and the current competition is unfolding against that backdrop. The CTTI is also involved in a court dispute over the previous award of the XCAT fiber-optic network contract, valued at €127 million. Intended to link 5,000 public sites, the contract went to a temporary joint venture between Sirt and Connecta that used Huawei equipment. Telefónica challenged the decision after the Catalan Public Sector Contracts Tribunal rejected its initial appeal, taking the matter to court.
Alongside the €376 million tender and the XCAT litigation, the CTTI launched a separate process, CTTI-2026-116, at the end of June 2026. This parallel tender has a base budget of €124 million, potentially rising to €223.6 million with extensions. It covers network equipment and licensing, along with network projects and cybersecurity maintenance for Catalonia’s public sector over an initial two-year period.
The CTTI’s procurement board is set to begin its technical and financial evaluation of the six bids for the basic contract. The process is drawing close attention because of its financial scale and its implications for service quality and security in the region’s public administration.
Major infrastructure decisions in Catalonia often prompt debate and legal scrutiny, including in transport. Recent discussions about reintroducing tolls on the AP-7 motorway to address congestion and safety concerns have also drawn impressive attention, as detailed in this report on regional transport policy shifts.
Telecommunications contracts of this scale are rare in Spain’s regional administrations. The outcome is expected to set a benchmark for future public-sector digitization projects. The winning bidders are expected to shape Catalonia’s connectivity and security for years to come, while influencing the efficiency of public operations. The sector will be watching as the evaluation progresses and the final awards are announced.
