Finland. Valokuitunen Oy
| Date of agreement: | 21 May 2021 |
|---|---|
| Country: | Finland |
| Customer: | Valokuitunen Oy |
| Amount in EUR: | EUR 20 million |
| Maturity: | 5 years |
| NACE sector / loan type: | Post and telecommunications |
Project
The EUR 20 million loan has been provided for the Finnish Valokuitunen Oy for financing the roll-out of new fibre-to-the-home network connections in residential neighbourhoods in Finnish growth centres and surrounding areas. The investment will provide new digital infrastructure and services and expand the coverage of high-speed fixed line connections.
The fibre network investment contributes to Finland’s national digital infrastructure strategy of providing a minimum of 100 Mbps internet connections to all households by 2025.
Established in 2020, Valokuitunen Oy is a joint venture between CapMan Infra and Telia Company focused on accelerating the roll-out of fibre networks in Finland.
CapMan is a leading Nordic private assets fund manager and a Finnish public company, and is invested in Valokuitunen through its CapMan Nordic Infrastructure I fund. CapMan Infra invests in sustainable energy, transportation and telecommunications infrastructure across the Nordics.
Telia Company AB is a Swedish multinational telecommunications company and mobile network operator present in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Telia Company is headquartered in Sweden and is listed in Nasdaq Stockholm and Helsinki.
Fulfilment of NIB's mandate
Productivity:
Highly developed digital infrastructure is a key driver of both economic progress and development. The investment will provide new digital infrastructure and services by expanding network coverage and increasing connection speeds available to end-users.
Currently, Finland is one of the leaders in wireless internet usage (4G and 5G), availability of digitalised services and overall data consumption, but is trailing behind most of its European peers in terms of high-speed (over 100 Mbps) internet connections to households. This can be explained by the fact that the roll-out of fibre networks in Finland has been significantly slower than in other EU countries.
Thus, the establishment of new fibre network connections contributes to Finland’s national digital infrastructure strategy of providing a minimum of 100 Mbps internet connections to all households by 2025.
The fibre network roll-out plan for Valokuitunen Oy includes around 70,000 new customers by 2025, covering areas with approximately 140,000 homes. The total length of ditches for the cabling will be close to 2,400 kilometres.
Estimated productivity impacts related to the investment:
– 70,000 homes connected to high-speed fibre network by 2025
Sustainability summary
Valokuitunen aligns with several of the UN’s sustainable development goals, such as improving innovation and infrastructure, taking climate action and enabling quality education. This is done by providing a more environmentally friendly way of accessing high-speed fixed broadband, thereby also helping to create equal working and education rights across Finland.
