The action “SmartReadinessVoucherScheme”, which foresees the provision of a subsidy totaling 100 million euroswith the aim of Greece “catch” the averages of the European Union in terms of the availability and penetration of broadband networks ultra-high speeds.

The rationale behind the Smart Readiness Voucher Scheme is to fund all or most of the work that will bring fiber optic cables to the interior of each apartment.

The optical fiber, which will come from the central distributor of each building, will create the necessary infrastructure, which, among other things, will allow the installation of “smart” electricity and natural gas meters in every home.

The project, announced by the Information Society and funded by the Recovery Fund, has as its main purpose the transformation of a building into a “smart” one, providing vouchers that will be allocated to cover the costs of the relevant works.

  • The submission of applications for registration in the Registry of the action began on Thursday, March 23, 2023 and will last until Monday, June 30, 2025.

Financing

The Smart Readiness action is something like the market pass. Specifically, with this program vouchers will be provided to the managers of apartment buildings or to residents of single-family homes in order to upgrade the internal wiring of the buildings, in order to:

  • To be able to receive ultra high speed broadband services.
  • To install infrastructure for the interconnection of the new “smart” meters.
  • To “run” actions concerning the environmental footprint of the buildings’ most basic communal facilities.

The bulk of the funding concerns existing apartment buildings, with the average cost of upgrading fiber optic distribution infrastructure in a four-story apartment building estimated at €1,000.

The entire process of the upgrade will begin with the announcement of the telecommunication providers for the plan to build a fiber optic network in a certain area with a time horizon of 2026. For this entire period, the “Broadband Map and Network Registry” information system will be updated accordingly.

Based on this system, building managers or owners will select the technical company that will undertake the fiber optic network distribution project inside their building, from the central distributor to each apartment.

The technical office, in turn, will submit its plan to the “e-transit” platform of the General Secretariat of Telecommunications, so that the relevant subsidy can be approved. Technical offices must be registered in the program’s Register of Installers.

Two ministerial decisions have already been issued for this specific project:
One concerns the Broadband Map and the Network Registry (record of all the country’s networks with the mandatory participation of all providers).
The second concerns the operation, in collaboration with TEE, of the electronic platform “e-passages”, through which the construction of optical networks inside buildings will be licensed, registered and controlled.

Eligible buildings

For those interested to receive the subsidy, the buildings must meet two conditions:

  • The first is that the building is located within the Intervention Area, which the interested party will be able to see through a system that captures the exact location of the apartment building or single-family house.
  • The second condition is that the building does not have indoor optical cabling.

The Intervention Area includes all buildings through which a fiber optic network passes or will pass until 2026, providing broadband services immediately upgradeable to 1 Gbps, as well as any other building located up to 1,000 meters from the fiber optic network.

In order to be given the vouchers, the manager must submit the building details on the TEE platform “e-passages”, where there will also be the installation companies that can undertake the work.

The installer, after contacting the manager, will go to the building for an “autopsy” and to determine exactly the work to be carried out, submitting his offer.