Telemach plans to install 4,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable across Croatia and is preparing for the commercial launch of the 5G mobile network as soon the HAKOM regulator allocates the frequency spectrum, the company announced at a press conference in Zagreb on Monday.

Telemach Croatia will build the 5G network in cooperation with Nokia.

Asked by the press about the possible acquisition of Optima Telekom, Telemach Croatia CEO Viktor Pavlinic said he could not comment on the speculation, but added that United Group was open to various options.

In national roaming, Telemach Croatia still uses the services of the Hrvatski Telekom (HT) company, and Pavlinic declined to discuss details of their business relationship.

Pavlinic said that the rebranding process had been completed after United Group took over Tele2 Croatia, as part of which 36 retail outlets had been remodelled and new packages for private and business users launched. He said that the rebranding had not affected the number of their customers and that their customer base remained stable at around 950,000.

Telemach Croatia plans to invest €130 million in upgrading its network capacity over the next five years.

(Operating in Croatia as part of United Group are the telecom operator Telemach Hrvatska, as well as television channels and websites Sport Klub and N1, Nova TV, Doma TV, and Dnevnik.hr.)