Nova is committed to investments of 166.1 million euros in fiber optic networks to homes and businesses (FTTH), making use for the second time of the loan facility from the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RTF).
Specifically, of the aforementioned amount, 59.4 million will come from the utilization of RTF resources, 35.6 million from loans from Eurobank and the National Bank, in equal amounts, while the remaining 71 million will be covered by equity of United Fiber, Nova’s 100% subsidiary for the development of new generation networks.
Following the additional liquidity that Nova ensures through the Recovery Fund, it is estimated that it will be able to meet its goal of having implemented 830 thousand FTTH connections by the end of this year. In 2024, according to data published by the telecommunications company, it had installed FTTH in 540 thousand homes and businesses.
According to the loan agreement, the majority of the 166.1 million will be allocated in the two-year period 2025-26, which means that next year it will exceed 830 thousand FTTH connections. It is noted that Nova’s management has announced that its ultimate goal is to implement a total of 1.6 million fiber optic connections, without communicating the timetable beyond the 830 thousand.
The loan agreement totaling 95 million euros (TA and Eurobank – National Bank) was signed at Eurobank’s headquarters in the presence of the Governor of the Special Coordination Service of the Recovery Fund, Orestis Kavalakis, senior executives of the two banks and Nova’s CEO, George Lambrou. The new loan has a duration of 8.5 years and follows a previous one, amounting to 79.3 million, which was also granted within the framework of the National Recovery Plan for the first phase of Nova’s investment in the development of a fiber optic network.
All providers continue their investment plans in fiber optic networks, including PPC, which is expected to launch a commercial telecommunications service towards the end of the year.
OTE leads the market, having installed over 70% of the country’s FTTH lines and its plan was to exceed 1.7 million homes and businesses by the end of 2024 (official announcements on the results of the previous year are expected). At the end of September 2024, 1.49 million homes and businesses had access to OTE’s FTTH network.
Vodafone has implemented approximately 300,000 FTTH lines and its goal is to install 850 thousand by 2028.
PPC has constructed approximately 500,000 FTTH connections and, according to its executives, will reach 1.7 million by the end of 2025.
