Spain's industry ministry said Tuesday it will issue a decree to regulate the 790 to 862 megahertz band that will be freed up after Spain phases out analog television.

In a press release, the ministry said the spectrum would be available for uses other than analog television as of January 2015.

The ministry didn't say how it would reassign the frequency, but said it would likely be reserved for cellular use, especially for mobile Internet broadband.

The digital dividend, as the reallocation of frequencies from analog television is called, has become a hot topic for telecommunications operators as they look for more spectrum for data-intensive services like third generation, or 3G, cards and the latest generation of smart phones.

Spain has slated April 2010 to switch from analog to digital TV, but the government has said it wants to allow television stations to continue to use the spectrum for analog and digital broadcasts for a period after the switchoff.

Digital TV requires less frequency than traditional analog TV.

Telecommunications companies Telefonica SA (TEF), Vodafone PLC (VOD), France Telecom SA's (FTE) Orange, Jazztel PLC (JAZ.MC) and Teliasonera's (TLSN.SK) Yoigo are Spain's main 3G mobile Internet providers.

-By Jason Sinclair, Dow Jones Newswires; 34 913958127; jason.sinclair@dowjones.com