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BNS - Minister of Economy and Communications Juhan Parts and telecom companies have initiated a six-billion-kroon (EUR 283 mln) project called EstWin to develop new generation Internet coverage across the entire territory of Estonia.
Telecom businesses are planning to develop the network offering speeds of up to 100 megabits and covering the whole of Estonia by the year 2015, the Ministry of Economy and Communications said on Friday.
"If railway was developed in the 19th century and the electrical grid in the 20th century, then 21st century is the era of developing communication networks," Parts was quoted as saying. "The project makes it possible to quicken the economy and at the same time to create new jobs," he added.
Parts also said that development of the broadband network will help Estonia to develop more evenly and promote business in rural areas.
A full switch to a broadband network in Estonia means that all homes, apartments and offices will be linked up to the broadband network. All major Estonian telecom businesses are taking part in the project.
It also marks the biggest ever project in private-public partnership in the sphere of information and communication technology, which is open to all service providers and requires broad-based cooperation between ministries, businesses and local governments.
As part of phase one of the EstWin project a base network consisting of 6,640 kilometers of fiberoptical cable and 1,400 network connection points will be built. In the second phase the operators will set up an access network for customers.
The state's share in the project is 1.5 billion kroons, which is to be covered with money from the EU structural funds.
(EUR 1 = EEK 15.65)
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