OTE, Vodafone and Wind to invest in NGAs
The deployment of next-generation access (NGA) networks is beginning in Greece for fixed-line services.
Service providers OTE, Vodafone and Wind are expected to spend some 250 million euros in order to meet the targets set in the new framework for the rollout of NGA networks by the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission. This framework is based on the objectives of the European Digital Agenda, which requires 50 percent of European citizens to have access to broadband internet connections of at least 100 Mbps by 2020.
OTE intends to invest 50 million euros in the next eight months, to cover some 750,000 potential customers for so-called “supervectoring” connections, which allow for connection speeds up to 300 Mbps. Today an ADSL connection allows for a download speed of up to 24 Mbps while VDSL takes that up to 50 Mbps.
Vodafone and Wind are planning to combine supervectoring with fiber optics. In the next three years Vodafone will spend 120 million euros on 70 percent fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networks and 30 percent supervectoring, while Wind will invest 80 million on 30 percent FTTH and 70 percent supervectoring.
