Benidorm begins removing the internal wiring from the Beniardá Avenue underpass early this morning

The existing wiring in the Beniardá Avenue underpass will begin to be removed early this morning, two years after this infrastructure came into operation, as confirmed by the Councilor for Public Space, Francis Muñoz. Work will begin early in the morning once the personnel of the utility companies—mainly telephone and internet service providers—and the city council have coordinated. The plan is to remove all the cables at once, although it may take a few more days for the final removal of all the cables.

Muñoz specified that this external wiring accounts for "approximately 80% of telephone and internet access in Benidorm, making it the main hub." The councilor noted that this operation "will increase security and significantly improve the image of the area, which has been highly valued throughout this period."

It is worth remembering that during the construction of the underpass, several telecommunications lines belonging to several operators were affected, leaving them exposed and unburied, "which created a dangerous situation due to the volume of the cable conduits and their proximity to pedestrian and vehicle traffic." After the relevant procedures, the new underground conduit was installed, and the service lines were being installed, with the removal of the above-ground lines planned as soon as possible.

Francis Muñoz also explained that the reasons for the delay in removing the cables were due to technical and administrative reasons. In this regard, he alluded to "the complexity of rerouting the lines, since the operators had to ensure that the transfer of the lines to the new conduits would not interrupt service to users, which in turn required prior studies, planning temporary outages, and nighttime work." Coordination between the operators was also necessary, since each has its infrastructure and must carry out the work simultaneously, jointly, and without interference.

On the other hand, administrative aspects also had to be taken into account, which influenced the initiation of work, such as the request and approval of the technical plans for route modifications that the operators had to submit to the City Council and supra-municipal bodies. On other occasions, "the lack of response or delays in the operators' planning, licensing, and coordination of works have also hurt the start of work," Muñoz explained.

In any case, the Councillor for Urban Scene emphasised that the removal and burying of telecommunications lines in a complex urban environment such as this one "is a process that, although necessary, can be delayed due to a combination of technical and administrative factors." However, Muñoz insisted that both the City Council and the operators involved "have worked in a coordinated manner to ultimately resolve the situation, ensuring the safety and suitability of the environment."

Service rerouting has been underway since this morning, affecting residents on both sides of the avenue from the underpass to the municipality of La Nucía. These will be brief service interruptions that will last until 10:00 p.m. This morning, from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., wholesale customers and intercity connections with the municipalities of Callosa d'En Sarrià and La Vila Joiosa will be cut off, although in this case, they won't notice anything, as the service will be rerouted before the interruption along alternative intercity connection routes.