Connecting Europe Broadband Fund announces investment in Rede Aberta, the new FTTH wholesale-only, open-access network in rural Galicia, Spain
PRESS RELEASE
Luxembourg, October 13, 2020
Connecting Europe Broadband Fund (CEBF) and Blautel Communications will invest in a state-of-the-art fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), wholesale-only open-access network for residential and business users in rural Galicia, Spain.
Rede Aberta based in Santiago Compostela will cover over 400,000 units.
This investment marks the first project for CEBF in Spain.
Connecting Europe Broadband Fund (CEBF) and Blautel Communications today announced that they launched the investment in a high-quality fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), open-access network for residential and business users in Galicia, Spain, which will cover over 400,000 units in rural areas. This investment marks the first project for CEBF in Spain.
Spain, Europe’s 5th largest economy, has a very vibrant FTTH market with one of the highest coverage and penetration levels in Europe. There is a clear focus by most of the existing players on the highly urbanized areas. Extensive infrastructure sharing practices along with easier roll out options mark Spain as one of the most fiber covered markets in Europe. Nevertheless, coverage varies among regions and Galicia remains as the least covered area in Spain. In addition, semi-urban and rural areas lack the required focus and investment. Rede Aberta addresses this opportunity in rural Galicia with a reliable, affordable and high-bandwidth FTTH infrastructure open to all retail telco operators.
Renaud de Matharel, CEO and Managing Partner of Cube Infrastructure Managers, said: “We are pleased to announce our first deal with our Connecting Europe Broadband Fund in Spain. We are expanding our portfolio of telecom infrastructure assets all across Europe and Spain is no market to ignore. We are proud to partner with seasoned local entrepreneurs and contribute our continental experience. Our investment in Galicia will create an inevitable affiliation to the region and we anticipate that this will enhance our success through the enhanced engagement with local stakeholders”
Pere Antentas, Chairman of Blautel Communications, said: “We are excited to launch the deployment of Rede Aberta in partnership with CEBF and bring top class connectivity to Galicia. Our unique experience in building OANs in Spain will help us to satisfy our telco clients’ highest expectations, in terms of quality and speed. With CEBF’s outstanding support, we are already on track to connect our fist units before the end of this year.”
Manuel Pazo, Chairman of Rede Aberta states that “It is a personal honor and a professional privilege to lead this project, that will change the lives of thousands of my fellow Galician people who still do not enjoy the benefits of the Gigabit Society. It is a beautiful way to give back a small share of what Galicia has given me after a long and fruitful career. I will not save efforts to work together with institutional and industrial partners to make out of Rede Aberta a reference for the region and for the whole industry. Rede Aberta is especially very important for me as compared to my previous experience related to the wind energy in Galicia which brought economic success to the local territory. In this case, the fiber will bring future and repopulation in the rural areas”.
CEBF is an infrastructure fund focusing on investing in greenfield and expansion projects in the broadband infrastructure space across Europe with €470 million of committed capital and a target size of €500-600 million. The deployment of next generation fibre networks allows people and corporations to access significantly higher speeds for uploading and downloading data, coping with the explosion of IP traffic. Rede Aberta is another successfully signed project for CEBF. The portfolio now holds investments in Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, UK, Netherlands and Spain.
CEBF is managed by Cube Infrastructure Managers (Cube IM) and anchored by the European Commission, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the German KfW Bankengruppe, the Italian Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) and France’s Caisse des Dépôts et consignations (CDC) alongside European private investors.
About Cube Infrastructure Managers:
Founded in 2007, Cube Infrastructure Managers is an independent management company, focusing on investments in the European infrastructure space addressing the essential infrastructure needs of local public authorities and populations, and fully consistent with its ESG commitments. Cube Infrastructure Managers has raised an aggregate €2.6 billion and manages three funds. Cube Infrastructure Fund and Cube Infrastructure Fund II are focusing on investments in regulated, brownfield infrastructure and target mainly three strategic markets, Public Transport, Energy Transition and Communication Infrastructure, with a “Buy & Grow” strategy. The Connecting Europe Broadband Fund is a fund dedicated to investment in broadband infrastructure projects.
Contact:
Cube Infrastructure Managers
Caroline Kragerud, Head of Investor Relations
+352 248 734 6874
Jean-François Willame, CEBF Investment Director
+352 248 734 6855
Rede Aberta
Ana Rodriguez Mallo
+34 881 505 114
Projects should be referred to CEBF@cubeim.com or +352 248 734 68 00
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