EXA Infrastructure has acquired Croatian telco Univerzalne Telekomunikacije d.o.o (Unitel) to differentiate itself from its competitors by diversifying and growing its network routes to increase connectivity across Europe. EXA focuses on expanding across the rapidly growing yet underinvested Balkan region.
Unitel is the chosen partner for many international backbones traversing across Croatia. Its network consists of 515km of duct and owned fibre optic cable extending from Zagreb in the north to Ilok in the south, including two border crossings to Serbia and one to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Most of the duct is adjacent to the Adria oil pipeline, which increases reliability and lowers disturbance rates.
“The Unitel acquisition is the latest initiative in EXA’s continued commitment to providing its customers with innovative, reliable and diverse connectivity solutions available on the market,” said Martijn Blanken, Chief Executive of EXA Infrastructure. “Unitel boasts state of the art fibre and has a strong track record of being a reliable partner to some of the world’s largest companies aligns with EXA’s mission and values. I am delighted to welcome Unitel and its team to the EXA family.”
Now an EXA Infrastructure company, Unitel’s optical network has 80km located in Zagreb, connecting to all major datacentres including InterXion.
Croatia is strategically located to connect into EXA’s European backbone by introducing a unique north-to-south route across the Balkans complimenting EXA’s Trans Adriatic Express (TAE) route which provides an east-to-west conduit. This strategic acquisition highlights EXA’s ongoing growth plans to become the undisputed pan European and transatlantic datacentre to datacentre connectivity business.
“Unitel is a key building block in our strategic expansion into the Balkans and continues to solidify EXA’s position as an industry leader,” said Samir Assaad, SVP of Strategy and Merger & Acquisition at EXA Infrastructure. “This strategy aims to solidify EXA's leadership position by expanding our network reach into new, high-growth geographies, thereby facilitating our clients' parallel expansion efforts.”