Vodafone Spain announced the commercial launch of LTE-A services in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Valencia in October, Telecompaper.com reported on Sept 2, 2014. CEO Antonio Coimbra revealed the operator’s plans at the XXVIII telecommunications and digital economy meeting held at Menendez Pelayo University in Santander. Vodafone has been conducting LTE-A trials using its 4G network in the 1,800 MHz and 2,600 MHz bands throughout 2014, and has reached top speeds of 300 Mbps, compared to 150 Mbps available under the standard LTE network. Coimbra said the deployment would be accelerated as soon as the government frees up the 800 MHz frequency on January 1, 2015, which will also enable the operator to increase its 4G coverage from 600 to 1,000 localities by March of next year.