The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending HUF 60 billion (some EUR 200 million) to finance the improvement of availability and increase in quality of Magyar Telekom’s mobile and fixed broadband telecommunications infrastructure.
EIB Vice-President László Baranyay, who is responsible for lending operations in Hungary, stated: “The EIB loan will help to boost substantially high speed fixed line and mobile broadband coverage of Hungary’s population. Modern high-speed telecommunications services are crucial for the further development of Hungary’s economy and better exploitation of the country’s potential, particularly in rural areas.”
The EIB loan will finance a telecommunications network upgrade making advanced mobile (3G and 4G/LTE) and fixed broadband telecoms services available to a significant amount of an additional households. The project also involves investments in core and transmission networks and associated IT systems to cope with the expected increase in network traffic. The increased accessibility of modern telecommunications networks will strengthen the position of the ICT industry in Hungary, where this sector accounts for some 11% of the country’s GDP – exceeding the EU average of 6%.
Magyar Telekom is the project promoter while Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) is the borrower of the EIB loan. This operation represents a continuation of the successful cooperation between the EIB and DT. The Bank has previously supported 21 projects of the Deutsche Telekom Group with a total amount of some EUR 2.2 billion.