Just before the starting point, a project for the development of ultra-high-capacity infrastructure is being implemented. Ultra Fast Broadband (UFBB), with a budget of 884 million euros. Thanks to the project, which will be implemented by the OTE group and the TERNA Energy and Grid Telecom consortium, almost 20% of households and enterprises in the country, as well as more than 10,000 public buildings will have access to Super high speed internet. The two organizations submitted bids in September 2021, were announced as temporary contractors in February 2022, and are currently awaiting the signing of individual contracts for a public-private partnership (PPP) project.

With OTE taking over the development of the fiber optic network in three of the seven parts of the project, and TERNA Energy-Grid Telecom joint venture developing the said infrastructure in the remaining four locations, the contracting process for the project is proceeding at different stages. The Accounts Chamber has approved a contract for three divisions of OTE, which is under consideration for the corresponding contract TERNA Energy – Grid Telecom. The latter two, however, have already started the creation of TERNA Fiber, a special purpose company whose goal is to implement the project in geographic zones 2, 4, 5 and 6.

This particular project aims to bridge the digital divide between urban centers and the Greek periphery.

Lot 2 covers approximately 137,000 households and businesses in 11 regional units (Pellas, Pieria, Kastoria, Florina, Ioannina, Thesprotia, Preveza, Larissa, Magnesia, Sporades, Corfu). Lot 4 covers about 110,000 households and businesses in Chalkidiki, Thassos, Kavala, Serra, Lesvos, Ikaria, Lemnos, Samos, Chios. Lot 5 covers 127,000 households and businesses in Thessaloniki, Kilkis, Evrytania, Phokis, Ithaca, Kefalonia, Lefkada, Achaia. , Etoloakarnania, and Lot 6 concerns approximately 117,000 households and businesses in Kozani, Greven, Arta, Karditsa, Trikala, Imathia, Argolis, Laconia.

For the three departments that comply with the OTE, the contract has been approved by the Accounts Chamber, but it remains to be seen if, in the event that Sunday’s national elections are followed by a second round, the signatures will come from the official Ministry of Digital Management. In any case, it is expected that the project will begin to be implemented in the next few months with the goal of reaching at least 90% of the available population of the considered areas with high-speed broadband connection. More broadly, this specific infrastructure is expected to bridge the digital divide between urban centers and the Greek periphery and develop a new generation of broadband infrastructure based on the targets set by the European Commission for 2025 for strengthening broadband.

The concession agreement for the project, which has a construction period of three years, is designed for 26 years, after which the infrastructure will be returned to the state. It is noted that the amount of 249 million euros of the total cost of the project comes from community funds.