Iskratel to provide ultra-fast internet in 210 municipalities across rural Slovenia and Croatia
As part of the RUNE project, hundreds of thousands of households across the two countries will be able to access Internet speeds of up to 10 Gbit/s
Kranj, Slovenia, 6 May, 2020 – Iskratel, a leading European broadband solutions provider, will provide active and passive telecommunications equipment for the construction of an ultra-fast fibre-optic (XGS-PON and GPON) broadband network in 210 municipalities as part of the RUNE (Rural Network) project with its partners Rune Enia in Slovenia and Rune Crow in Croatia.
As part of the three-year project, 233,000 households in 165 Slovenian municipalities and 130,000 households in 45 municipalities in Croatia will be able to access the Internet at speeds up to 10 Gbit/s. The project’s goal is to provide pervasive, high-speed connectivity for every European citizen and connect all people living in rural areas with future-orientated fibre broadband connectivity.
“The RUNE project plays an extremely important role in rural development by providing an ultra-fast fibre-optic broadband network. We are delighted to be contributing to this goal in Iskratel with our state-of-the-art telecommunications equipment that is the result of our own development and production,” said Matjaz Aljancic, Director of the Iskratel Broadband Business Unit.
Goran Zivec, Director of RUNE Enia, d. o. o., stressed that the RUNE project is the first and at the moment, the only international project in the European Union connecting the territories of several Member States with an ultra-fast broadband infrastructure.
Zivec said: “Providing an open-broadband access network to all citizens, regardless of their location, is of utmost importance for the development of rural areas. I am delighted that we, together with our partner Iskratel, will make this possible.”
The news follows Iskratel’s recent partnership with Ukrtelecom and SID Bank to build a fibre-optic Internet network to more than 200 localities across Ukraine and connect rural regions of the country.
For more information about Iskratel, please see: https://iskratel.com/en/. To learn more about the RUNE project, visit: https://www.ruralnetwork.eu/.
About Iskratel
With more than 70 years of experience, Iskratel is the leading European ICT provider for the digital transformation of the telecommunications, transport, public safety and energy industries. Iskratel offers cost-efficient, end-to-end broadband solutions with SI3000 and Innbox product families. Solutions for broadband access and aggregation include fibre and xDSL, along with a range of Innbox CPE. Iskratel broadband-access products exhibit unique awareness of services, which enables network operators to efficiently control, manage and monitor residential services, over-the-top and cloud-based applications, as well as virtual private network connections. With its own R&D and manufacturing centres, over 900 employees and global footprint in more than 50 countries, Iskratel combines experience and expertise with creativity and innovation.
About RUNE project
RUNE, recipient of the prestigious European Broadband Award in December last year, is the first project in Europe financed by the CEBF to address the lack of broadband infrastructure in rural areas by using private investment instruments, without public non-refundable sources. More information about the RUNE project available on: https://www.ruralnetwork.eu.
