NKP

Project "Development of Next Generation Access Infrastructure" 
     

The European Economic Progress Strategy "Europe 2020" and the flagship initiative "Digital Agenda for Europe" set, inter alia, that by 2020  Europeans must be able to use an Internet connection with a speed of more than 30 Mb/s.

In 2017, the possibility of new-generation internet access exists only in 38.74% of the territory of the Republic of Lithuania. Accordingly, 8.95% of households do not have access to the next-generation Internet. Taking into account the broadband Internet infrastructure development plans of electronic communications operators for the next 3 years, it is expected that in 2020 next-generation Internet (fixed and mobile) infrastructure will cover 46.22% of the territory of the Republic of Lithuania, and 7.01% of households will still not have access to the next-generation Internet. The coverage problem will be felt most clearly by the residents of rural areas, where 18.73% of households will not have access to the next-generation Internet.

The relevance of next-generation access for a large part of modern society is emphasized by global trends in the growth of retail consumer data traffic. In the international telecommunications equipment manufacturer Ericsson's 2017 June „Ericsson mobility report“ points to a planned 11-fold increase in mobile data traffic in the CEE region by 2022. Accordingly, it is expected that even 70% of all mobile access subscribers in the region will use services provided by 4G (LTE) technology (in 2016, this figure was only 15%). The need for higher data flow and more advanced transmission technologies is associated with the ever-growing public information consumption needs, the satisfaction of which is a necessary condition to ensure that the growth potential of the economy is realized.

The share of households that do not have access to the Internet of the new generation is widely distributed over a large area. Considering this circumstance, private investments in the development of the next-generation Internet infrastructure are not economically attractive.

The purpose of the project is to create conditions for residents to connect to the new generation access network in territories that are currently not covered by the new generation access infrastructure ("white areas"), and where the development of the infrastructure is not planned in the next three years.

The following tasks are set for the project:

1. To build communication towers and (or) to build fiber network in "white area" territories;
2. Install the active equipment and power sources necessary for the functioning of the communication infrastructure.

Target groups and needs of the project: the project solves the problems of individuals, legal entities, farmers, public sector entities, and retail Internet access service providers residing in the territory of "white areas" and meets their needs related to fast and high-quality Internet access, necessary for public, financial, and others, receiving services provided by ICT means, commercial, fulfilling tax obligations, providing public services and performing public administration functions, self-education, communication, etc. purposes at an attractive/reasonable price.

It is planned to build 25 communication towers in the "white areas" identified during the project, and to build about 1,210 km of fiber lines by connecting newly built communication towers, about 300 objects with communication transmission problems, and to install 8,500 passive optical network connection points. The newly created mobile and fixed communication infrastructure would cover the area of about 9,105 km2 of "white area" territories, and the new generation access would be provided to about 42,287 households building fiber lines in the most socially beneficial route through concentrated areas of uncovered households.

In the long term, the project is expected to have a positive impact on business innovativeness/competitiveness, labor demand, household income, social mobility and inclusion, and self-education opportunities in "white area" territories. Also, the results of the project will increase the attractiveness of Lithuania as a tourism destination.

You can find the list of planned towers here.

The Public Enterprise "Broadband Internetas" implements this project by the 2014-2020 plan of the Ministry of Communications of the Republic of Lithuania. Implementation measure no. 02.1.1-CPVA-V-521 "Next Generation Access Development".

The project is partially funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).