A1 Group announced that its local subsidiary A1 Serbia has agreed to acquire part of the infrastructure of the Serbian provider Conexio.

A1 Group CEO Thomas Arnoldner said: "With this asset deal, we are able to successfully pursue our growth strategy. A1 Serbia positions itself as a serious player in the region, providing strong support for local traffic needed for mobile backhauling and for the provision of other local services. The continuous connectivity is also a great asset for enterprise customers that need overall solutions and long-distance connectivity."

A total of approx. 850 kilometers of gage piping to be acquired will close the gap between the A1 markets Croatia and Bulgaria, while also providing routes to Hungary and North Macedonia. After the completion of the transaction, A1 Group will be able to lay fiber in the pipes and close the existing network infrastructure gap.

"With this deal we take our international connectivity to a new level. A1 Group will be able to offer state-of-the-art technology and with a total of 850 km of connecting pipes across Serbia will be able to offer fiber along this track to our national and international customers", said Alejandro Plater, COO A1 Group. "We will be able to offer services running on our own managed infrastructure from the Bosporus to Austria".

State-of-the-art fiber and mobile networks, such as 5G, for which A1 Serbia is well-prepared and eagerly awaits the auction, should support numerous contemporary trends that are present or emerging at a high speed, as well as the growing needs of our customers and the market. Digitalization and automation are becoming increasingly intense, new internet services are being developed owing to the interconnection of devices.Increasing integration of these networks is expected, which opens up opportunities for new ways of service provision, new applications and partnerships.

The completion of the transaction is, inter alia, subject to the applicable merger control clearance. As agreed between the parties, details regarding the transaction will not be released.