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HEP Presents New Ultra-Fast Optical Network

HEP today presented a new ultra-fast optical network (DWDM) which has increased data transmission speed by 100 times, making HEP the highest quality network infrastructure operator in Croatia.

As part of an investment worth 25 million kuna, HEP has installed 28 DWDM devices across the entire territory of Croatia, enabling data transmission at a maximum speed of 100 gigabits per second, thereby increasing the system capacity from 80 gigabits to eight terabits. The speed has increased one hundred times, and with the addition of more devices, it can be accelerated by up to 150 times.

In addition to allowing HEP to manage its systems more efficiently, HEP’s management expects that the network will be used by government bodies, the academic community, telecom and mobile operators, healthcare and education, economic entities, and local communities.

The DWDM network can provide broadband internet services, telephony, transmission for HD video conferences, international data transit, data center connectivity, and FTTH (Fiber To The Home – optical network to every home).

The new network is the result of years of HEP’s development of optical infrastructure, which places Croatia among the few countries in Europe with such modern infrastructure and ensures its national sovereignty in this area, stated HEP’s CEO Zlatko Koračević.

The next step will be to enable the introduction of the optical network into every household and the development of smart grids and meters, remote reading, and communication with each HEP consumer, in order to jointly reduce and control electricity costs, emphasized Koračević.

Assistant Minister of Economy Alen Leverić expressed satisfaction that at a time when ‘copper wire’ is becoming history, and optical cables are taking precedence, HEP recognizes the opportunities to utilize its own network and complements its power lines with optics. This positions HEP at the forefront of new technology development, marking a step into the future that will accelerate the development of HEP and all users of its services, Leverić assesses.

Koračević also announced that HEP will soon present the program for Croatia’s energy independence to the government and the Croatian public, and confirmed that HEP has been in discussions with Ivana Čermak’s company Crodux Energetika about a gas-fired power plant in Slavonski Brod, where it would participate in the investment at the level of ’25 percent plus one’, which would allow it a supervisory role.
He believes that the decline in Croatia’s credit rating will not negatively affect HEP’s bonds and investments, as the bonds are currently selling on the secondary market at a price of 106 percent, which is higher than the nominal price, and the investments are covered by a business plan for 2013 and the following year.