Sofrecom carries out a pre-feasibility study on Very High Broadband development in Albania.
In 2016, the Albanian State Minister of Innovation and Public Administration (MIPA) launched a program to bring high speed broadband in the whole country with at least 100 Mbps for 50% of households and at least 30 Mbps for all Albanians. MIPA selected Sofrecom for a 3-month strategic study.
The program of broadband development in Albania is based on the Broadband National Plan which is a strategic document, approved by the Council of Ministers, providing a clear direction of what the Government, Public administration and the Regulator intend to do for the period of 2013 – 2020, in order to develop Internet in the whole country. This document defines the goals to be achieved by 2020 such as facilitating access to high-speed transmission, at least 100 Mbps to 50% of households and at least 30 Mbps for all the citizens in Albania. It is also part of a larger regional effort in the Western Balkans, supported by the European Union, to improve interconnectivity and accessibility for all citizens.
“As the State Minister for Innovation, I have launched in 2016 a pre-feasibility study of Fixed Broadband access networks roll out all over the territory with a focus on the demand and supply. In other words how to create incentives for the deployment of NGA networks and how to increase the broadband adoption by the citizens in Albania”.
Mandated by UNDP, Sofrecom has accompanied MIPA to complete the Pre-feasibility study. “ Sofrecom was selected by MIPA and UNDP, the partner of the study within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework, due to its strong ICT culture, its habit of working with different authorities such as Regulators, Ministry’s departments, Funding organizations and its experience acquired in other consultancy assignments in African and Arabic Countries such as Morocco, Republic of Congo, Mauritania, Indonesia, Myanmar, Republic of Gambia, and many other countries”.
Sofrecom, as a global Consultant helped MIPA to quantitatively evaluate the feasibility of Broadband development in Albania, as well as the required investment and the different public-private financing mechanisms.
Sofrecom’s approach was to perform the:
- Benchmark of relevant best practices in five countries : Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania and Poland;
- Assessment of current broadband services and ICT coverage in Albania ;
- Demand study in the whole country with a focus on 13 municipalities selected among 65;
- Access and Backbone architecture scenarios;
- CapEx and OpEx modeling ;
- Business model for the 13 selected municipalities;
- Business model extrapolation to 3 areas covering all Albania territory;
The pre-feasibility study provides to MIPA an understanding of the broadband market in Albania at a national and municipality level, studying the current situation and the dynamics of market players, products, pricing, market share, technology, demand, services and usages.
“MIPA now has a clear vision of the next steps and a roadmap to follow with an accurate diagnosis of telecom infrastructures in 13 municipalities and a preferred scenario to develop broadband in accordance with its cost effectiveness ratio.”