Fiber optics across Greece
After five years and two governments, the contract for the development of optical fiber to the home (FTTH) in semi-urban and rural areas of the country has finally been signed.
The project is implemented as a public-private partnership (PPP) and has a budget of 375 million euros, with the OTE group undertaking to implement three of the seven areas where the ultra-fast broadband infrastructure will be developed. On Monday, the telecommunications group signed with the Ministry of Digital Governance the contract that will allow access to ultra-high internet speeds of up to 1 Gbp via optical fiber to more than 350,000 households.
“On behalf of the Greek state, I am signing as an official minister, which signals that the state has continuity and can work continuously to improve the quality of life of citizens,” noted Minister Sokratis Katsikas.
OTE will complete its own sections in three years, but the new commercial programs will be available in some regions as early as 2024. Also, the concession duration of the project (service period) is 23 years, after which the infrastructures will revert to the state.
“In the OTE group, we are intensively investing more than €3 billion until 2027, to upgrade Greece’s infrastructure and make the gigabit society a reality. We are the only telecommunications provider that responded to the state’s call for investment in the UFBB, such an important project for our country, and we are proud of it,” said OTE Group Chairman and CEO Michalis Tsamaz.
The rationale of the project – dating back at least to May 2018, when the then administration of the Ministry of Digital Governance had published a public invitation to providers – is to install optical fiber in areas that do not belong to the companies’ investment plan. In areas, that is, that had not been included in the planning of the private investments of the providers to implement optical fiber, including more than 830,000 households and businesses (over 18%) and 10,000 public buildings (schools, health centers etc) in semi-urban and rural areas. OTE group will implement optical FTTH in 31 regional entities.
