Orange Polska says it has created a 50/50 joint venture with pension fund manager APG Group to help fund its fiber to the home (FTTH) deployment aspirations in Poland. The joint venture, called Światłowód Inwestycjesp z.o.o., aims to have an FTTH footprint that passes 2.4 million households over the next five years, from a base of approximately 700,000 focused mainly on “low and mid competition areas.”
The agreement values the joint venture at 605 million euros ($720.2 million). APG will contribute 303 million euros ($360.7 million), 65% of which will be delivered on the agreement’s closing, expected this August. The remaining funds will be contributed between 2022 and 2026 as the FTTH deployments progress. Światłowód Inwestycjesp also will offer wholesale access to the network to Orange Polska and others. Orange Polska will supply a range of services to Światłowód Inwestycjesp, including network construction management and maintenance, lease of network elements, and other support services.
“I am very pleased that we entered into a partnership with APG who shares our vision regarding further market potential in fiber infrastructure in Poland,” commented Julien Ducarroz, the CEO of Orange Polska. “Attractive transaction terms reveal the underlying value of Orange Polska infrastructure assets and demonstrate strong shareholder value creation attached to our ambitious FTTH roll-out strategy initiated 6 years ago. Fiber is a key engine for our commercial strategy and I am convinced that this network will constitute our competitive advantage for decades to come. It will significantly contribute to the development of digital infrastructure of the country and will fight digital exclusion.”
“APG is excited to partner with Orange Polska to enable the roll-out of fibre connections to 1.7 million households in Poland,” added Patrick Kanters, managing director, global real assets at APG. “This joint venture supports APG’s ambition to enable the digitalization of the economy by providing high-speed fiber-optic infrastructure to households that do not have high quality internet access today. Importantly, the investment is expected to deliver an attractive return for our pension fund clients.”
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
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