Malta’s first direct EIB loan brings broadband to 70,000 households

The project is part of a multi-year investment programme through which GO is strengthening its infrastructure

GO p.l.c. (GO), Malta’s leading provider of telecommunication services, has secured a EUR 28 million loan from The European Investment Bank (EIB) to further develop its telecommunication infrastructure.

The EIB loan is backed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), which is the financial pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe, known as the Juncker Plan. The Malta project is the first entirely located in the country to benefit from the EFSI guarantee. The project’s duration is three years.

The EIB loan will support GO’s efforts to extend its Fibre to the Home (FTTH) network to more than 70,000 additional households. 

This project is part of an ongoing multi-year investment programme through which GO is strengthening its infrastructure, introducing new technologies and improving operations with the objective of enhancing customer experience. The telecom’s strategic target is to build a fixed-line and mobile very high capacity (VHC) network throughout Malta.

Broadband crucial to the population and economy of Malta

Upon the signing of the loan, EIB Vice-President Dario Scannapieco said: “The financing of infrastructural networks is one of the pillars in the history of the EIB and telecommunication networks have been added to more traditional infrastructures such as roads, highways, railways and electricity networks. A rapid implementation of latest generation broadband technology is crucial for the population and the Maltese economy."

Go is the only Maltese operator with a fully integrated fixed/mobile network and the only Maltese operator to have access to three submarine cables connecting the archipelago of Malta to the World Wide Web. This has enabled the company to become the first quadruple play provider in Malta, rolling out mobile, fixed line, internet and TV services to more than 500,000 customers. The Maltese business community is a special recipient of various services tailored to its needs, such as Cloud Services, roaming hub services, data networking solutions, business IP services, and managed services.