The European Investment Bank (EIB) is considering lending Portugal’s Sonaecom, owner of mobile operator Optimus, €110m (US$135m) of a €220m project to develop its mobile broadband network.
The telecoms, media and software company would use the…
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is considering lending Portugal’s Sonaecom, owner of mobile operator Optimus, €110m (US$135m) of a €220m project to develop its mobile broadband network.
The telecoms, media and software company would use the funds to upgrade its 3G UMTS network and roll out a 4G LTE network, according to an EIB release.
The project is also in line with the EU Digital Agenda target of providing the entire region with a transmission speed of more than 30Mbps by 2020.
An EIB spokesperson could not say when the bank is likely to conclude its appraisal of the project.
Optimus’ customer base stood at 3.57 million at the end of the second quarter, according to Sonaecom’s financial report for the first half of 2012.
The mobile operator reported a turnover of €262.5m for the period, down 6.4% from the end of 2011. EBITDA was up 4.5% to €114.9m.