Rural and suburban settlements across Croatia will soon be able to access high-speed internet services thanks to an EU-supported project. Construction of a next generation broadband ‘backhaul’ infrastructure, along with connection to end-users, will support access speeds of 100 Megabits per second (Mbps).
- 13 January 2021
The scheme covers 540 priority settlements which each have more than 1 000 inhabitants, plus around 5 800 smaller settlements. All the places covered by the investment are demographically, socially and economically below the national average.
Uniform development of broadband infrastructure
Around 5 650 km of fibre will installed through the project. Where possible, existing ducts will be used, though it is estimated that new ducts will be required for approximately 45 % (about 2 450 km) of the deployed fibre.
Formally, the project is split into two units: one covers construction of the next generation network backhaul infrastructure; the other covers connection of public administrations to the fibre infrastructure.
The project aims to ensure uniform development of broadband infrastructure across Croatia. Currently, the settlements set to benefit have poor or slow internet access, compared with Croatia’s major urban centres.
The settlements that will benefit from the project are divided in three priority groups, which account for around 50 % of the country’s population. All settlements in group 1 will be connected, while in groups 2 and 3 approximately 18 % and 10% of settlements will connected by the project. As a result, next generation access (NGA) coverage in Croatia will increase significantly.
Improving access to digital services
Provision of modern broadband infrastructure will pave the way for increased uptake of advanced ICT applications in households, businesses and public administrations, which will help to grow the digital economy. In particular, the implementation of fibre-based connections for public users will enable the development of e-government services by different public entities and through public projects.
The whole of Croatia looks to benefit from the comprehensive nature of this infrastructure investment. Currently, the competitiveness of country’s fixed broadband market lags behind the EU Member State average.
Nationally, most consumers subscribe to basic broadband, with only 21.9 % able to access superfast broadband (30 – 100 Mbps), and 2.8 % to ultrafast broadband (above 100 Mbps). The low uptake of NGA is therefore predominantly due to the lack of available infrastructure, rather than affordability. The project will go a long way to addressing this problem.
In addition, the project contributes to the objectives of the Croatian National Broadband Strategy 2016-
2020, and to the Digital Agenda for Europe 2020. The latter requires that all Europeans have access to speeds above 30 Mbps by 2020, and for 50 % or more of European households to have internet connections above 100 Mbps.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Construction of National Next Generation Network Broadband Backhaul Infrastructure and Connecting the Targeted End-users within a Group of Public Administration Bodies to the Next Generation Access Broadband Infrastructure” is EUR 129 151 882, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 86 209 647
through the “Competitiveness and Cohesion” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Use of Information and Communication Technologies”.