Following the first round of the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure’s tender, French fiber optic operator Optix Infrastructure, a division of the Meridiam infrastructure fund, has been awarded 18 out of 47 coverage areas throughout Croatia.

Optix applied for a call for grant funds under the title “Implementation of projects within the National Framework Programme for the Development of Broadband Backhaul Infrastructure in Areas Lacking Sufficient Commercial Interest for Investments“.

Taking into account the possible areas on which the infrastructure will be built as well as the previous prices and performed works, it is estimated that the investment could reach more than 200 million euros.

Meridiam’s entry into the Croatian market represents the creation of a new wholesale infrastructure operator that will be open to all existing telecoms under equal conditions, enabling a wide selection of products and services for all users.

For context, Meridiam is a global investor and asset manager based in Paris specialized in developing, financing and managing long-term public infrastructure projects in three key sectors: sustainable mobility, critical public services, and innovative low-carbon solutions.

Since its founding in 2005, Meridiam has invested more than $80 billion and currently operates more than 120 major public infrastructures worldwide, including hospitals, trains, roads, airports, ports, e-charging stations, public buildings, energy and other infrastructure services. In the last three years, Meridiam has invested almost two billion euros in the digital infrastructure sector in Europe (Germany, Austria, Romania) and North America (USA and Canada) in order to, as they point out, connect places and people with high-quality fiber-optic networks and contribute to reducing the digital divide.