The government today adopted a conclusion to initiate a project that should unify the optical infrastructure currently ‘scattered’ across seven state companies in the coming years and ensure Croatia has a new generation optical network, thereby expanding the availability of broadband internet to all areas of Croatia.
An analysis by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure shows that Croatia ranks low in the EU in terms of broadband connection density, with 54.7% of the population having good broadband access, 43.1% having weaker access, mainly in rural areas and suburban settlements, and 2.2% or 92,000 residents having no broadband internet access at all.
Minister Siniša Hajdaš Dončić emphasized that the goal of the project is to create conditions for everyone to have access to a new generation of broadband internet, as private operators find investment interest only in the most populated parts of Croatia, which cover only about thirty percent of the population.
Project leader Darko Parić, assistant to the Minister of Administration and national promoter of the digital society, pointed out that state-owned companies have their own infrastructure, into which they have invested heavily, but it is all very uncoordinated and inconsistent as everyone has done it only for their own needs.
