The $345 million investment will provide Portugal with “very high capacity” fiber optic networks.

The National Telecommunications Authority (ANACOM) welcomed today the launch of the international public tender for the installation, management, operation and maintenance of fiber optic networks within the country.

Portugal was the first country in the European Union to launch a public tender for the installation, management, operation and maintenance of very high-capacity networks for the so-called “white zones”, a procedure that will involve an investment of around 345 million euros. EUR, of which 29.7 million resulted from 5G auction revenue.

In a statement, Anacom admitted that it views “with the utmost satisfaction the fact that our country is the first EU country to launch a public tender” for these networks using European funds, specifically FEDER, “as part of the new set of societal rules and standards applied to state aid.” In favor of broadband networks, which could reach 142.6 million euros.

The entity highlights the government’s positive decision “to allocate €29.7 million from 5G auction revenues to support the national public funds needed to implement this important investment in the development of electronic communications in Portugal.” Anacom states that in this way “the total public investment could reach 172 million euros, i.e. about 50% of the total investment amount.”

The regulator points to the work carried out alongside the government, as well as the three public consultations it conducted, “which were based on innovative georeferencing solutions”.

“These solutions were necessary to comply with European rules allowing the use of European funds in the context of state aid, because they made it possible to accurately identify and visualize areas where there are no high-capacity networks,” said the statement issued by the National Communications Authority.