Polish operator, Play has signed a joint venture agreement with private equity firm, InfraVia Capital Partners to provide access to high-speed fibre connectivity to 6 million homes in Poland.
The network will use existing infrastructure and the companies will make further investments to achieve this aim. The network will also be available for all telecoms operators in a wholesale, open-access model.
Under the preliminary agreement, which is subject to regulatory approval, Infravia Capital Partners, will acquire 50 per cent of shares of Play, an Iliad owned company and subsidiary of Play Group. The joint venture will operate under the name FiberForce.
Upon close-of-transaction, which is due at the end of this year, Playwill transfer its existing HFC and FTTx asset base of 3.7 million homes-passed to FiberForce. FiberForce also aims to build more than 2 million additional fibre optic connections and make its infrastructure available to other operators in an open, non-discriminatory access model. It is predicted that this model will help to maximise take-up of the built infrastructure by consumers.
Jean Marc Harion, CEO at Play explained: ‘This partnership is yet another milestone to strengthen our nationwide infrastructure leadership, allowing millions of new customers in Poland to benefit from superfast Internet. Due to its open-reach wholesale model, we want to set new standards for broadband connectivity access and secure everyone freedom of choice. We hope this new investment will significantly help narrow the digital gap and deliver even more innovation to the benefit of our customers, society and the economy.’
Vincent Levita, CEO and Founder of InfraVia added: ‘We are extremely happy to develop our partnership with iliad Group in this joint-venture with Play Group. This will allow us to build a key asset in a growing sector with a leading partner.’
