| Project Detail |
Provision of a EUR 100 million sovereign loan facility to the Republic of Serbia to finance the construction of mid-mile and last mile fibre broadband infrastructure connecting up to 1,600 rural schools/ public institutions in Serbia to the existing fibre backbone network.
Project Objectives
The Project will support deployment of mid-mile and last-mile broadband internet infrastructure that will connect existing fibre backbone to up to 1,600 schools/ public institutions in white zones (without access to broadband network), in rural areas in Serbia. The Project is part of a larger initiative and represents the continuation of the first project (Rural Broadband Rollout, OpID 51835), signed on 30 December 2020, which targeted 600 schools/ public institutions.
Due to geographic isolation and low population density, deploying broadband in white areas is not sufficiently profitable for any single operator. Mid-mile rollout and provision to telecom operators on free-use rights basis will decrease the capex required for network expansion to households in rural areas, making targeted white zones more attractive for investment by operators. The Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunication (MoTT), as client and implementing agency, aims to incentivize telecom operators to deploy last-mile broadband to households in white zones in rural areas, which are not targeted for network expansion by any operator in the next 3 years.
The Project will address the shortage of digitally skilled labour, which Serbia is experiencing due to recent rapid ICT sector growth, and which now presents a serious hindrance to private sector development. The Project will also address the digital rural-urban divide, since the lack of broadband in rural areas reduces the capacity of a large portion of the countrys population to fully participate in the modern economy.
The Project is in line with the EBRD Country Strategy for Serbia (BDS/SB/17-1 /F), with objective to improve public governance and business climate through "support to new technologies and innovation, benefitting from digital switchover and broadband penetration", as well as with the ICT Sector Strategy (BDS14-052) by "promoting competitive network expansion and access to communications and information to more citizens, through broadband penetration to more distant places". |
