Background

Following the liberalisation of the Romanian economy, telecommunications operators expanded rapidly by rolling out aerial fibre optics spanning from buildings to electric posts, to lamp posts across Bucharest. The result was a significant fibre coverage but at the cost of a fire hazard, interference with transportation networks, and visually very unappealing. To reduce the incidence of these aerial cables and improve the cityscape, the city of Bucharest awarded in 2008 a 49-year concession agreement, granting an exclusivity to build a network of underground ducts.

Netcity is responsible of the deployment 5,500km of ducts in Bucharest, 1,700km of which were deployed by 2021. In December 2021, Meridiam acquired a 49% stake in Netcity to speed up roll-out. Meridiam’s expertise will enable the Project Company to accelerate the construction and realise the original critical objectives of the Project. As part of this Meridiam-led rollout, Netcity aims to deploy between 2022 and 2026 an additional network of 1,725 km of ducts in Bucharest.

Stage:

> Under construction

ESG/SDG Key Facts

An SDG Roadmap is currently being developed to build on the wider impact of the project. The Project Company has also taken several initiatives to make ESG a core element of how it does business:
• Automation of checks on ESG KPIs
• Internal and external communication on ESG goals
• Consolidation of the company ESG policies: the development of an ESG Strategy and HR Policy, and the update of the whistleblowing policy and the Code of business conduct are ongoing.

SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)

This Project increases the investment capacity of the telecom industry in Romania leading to local economic growth and creating many job opportunities. In 2023, the Project Company started an initiative to improve connectivity and safety on education buildings facades and courtyards (schools, high-schools and kindergartens) by helping them to move cables from facades to the interior of the buildings. In 2023, 10 buildings were completed as a pilot, followed by 8 since the start of 2024, with 2 more to be completed in Q4 2024.

SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure)

Netcity improves digital communication and supports economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access to all. In addition, it increases the access of small-scale industrial and other enterprises to financial services. The Project Company is now collaborating with the State’s safety department to help prevent poles falling during natural hazards. Netcity covers streets with falling poles incidents in priority.

SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities)

Netcity makes the city safer and more resilient by removing old and dangerous aerial cables and supports inclusive and sustainable urbanisation. The Project Company is also discussing with key partners (Grantor and specialised organisations) the recycling of discarded fibre optics cables for the production of new asphalt mixtures. A possible partnership to recycle used fibre optics with the Romanian Fibre Optic Association and a specialised Romanian company is under analysis.

> Learn more from the press release

Image source : Depositphotos_207345772_XL @Shuterstock