"Every home will have at least 30 mbps internet connection"

"Every home will have at least 30 mbps internet connection"

"That's a fairly ambitious, perhaps from this point of view somewhat unrealistic goal, but we believe it can be achieved - provided we do everything that's ahead of us, and that is to ensure an adequate base infrastructure," Ljajic said after the signing of a strategic partnership agreement with China's Huawei.

The value of the project to build base broadband infrastructure ranges between 800 million and one billion euros - most of which would be spent building the infrastructure in rural, remote areas - Ljajic said, and added that "in all this" the government sees Huawei as its most important partner, and is ready to discuss various models for the company's participation.

"Of course the state doesn't have this money, we are looking for a model. In those countries where the state built the complete network, in some places they gave incentives to large companies to build their own networks, and we will probably combine models to save money and achieve the objective: to provide every citizen with 30 mbps internet connections by 2020," the minister said.

In the early 20th century, building highways was the basis for the economy and trade to develop quickly, while today telecommunications infrastructure has this role, Ljajic said. Serbia has about 6,000 kilometers of (fiber) optic cables owned by "various state institutions and public companies" that are currently not in use.

"This must be used to develop the national broadband network," Ljajic said.

Serbia sees China and Huawei as very important partners in a bid to participate in what he termed "the 4th industrial revolution."

Huawei Serbia General Manager Jack Wei said that the company has been present in Serbia for ten years, and stressed that it has been involved in helping cities across the country improve their governance, including networked logistics systems.

"Today we had the honor of signing the agreement on strategic partnership in developing the national broadband network, which will provide infrastructural foundations for comprehensive information and communication technologies, modernization and digital transformation, and will have a great impact on Serbia's economic and social development," Wei said.

China's Ambassador Li Manchang also attended the signing, and said that his country and its leaders provided great support to cooperation between the two countries, as do President Tomislav Nikolic and President-elect Aleksandar Vucic. He wished Huawei every success and said he hoped the company would invest in Serbia, employ as many local citizens as possible, and contribute to the country's development.