Nokia Oyj (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) and Infracapital have expressed great excitement after winning a tender from the government of Poland. The two are expected to design, build and operate advanced fiber optic networks that will see to it that residences and schools in 12 under-served regions mostly in the northern and central parts of the country get to enjoy top end broadband services.
According to Yahoo.com, these networks are hoped to deliver speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) and this will be a great move considering that about 400 000 homes and more than 2 500 schools are set to benefit in the largely rural voivodships (or provinces) of Lodzkie, Warminsko-Mazurskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie and Swietokrzyskie. One of the top officials working with the provider revealed that the project will be approximately €300 million.
These networks will be established and operated as wholesale open access networks and it is crucial to point out that the services will be marketed and delivered by retail service providers. Poland’s Ministry of Digitalization is the main driving force behind the transformative initiative. Grants from the EU under its EU Digital Agenda 2020 program also played a subsidizing role.
This program is focusing on the delivery of fast broadband services with download speeds of at least 30 Mbps to the various EU citizens and also about 100 Mbps to 50 percent of EU citizens by the year 2020.
By the start of 2018, these under-served regions of Poland according to sources will get to reap from the high-speed, high-quality and resilient fiber network that delivers ultra-broadband services which will help to better connect schools, support residential triple-play services such as HD video streaming, real-time gaming and 4K TV as well as provide e-health and digital services and deliver socio-economic benefits.
In addition to the broadband network infrastructure, the top provider has promised to deliver a wide range of professional and maintenance services. Nokia will be entrusted with planning, project management, design and deployment of both the passive fiber optic network and the broadband services.
