“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.”
The news comes as Exa continues to diversify and grow its network routes to increase connectivity across Europe with a focus on the underinvested Balkan region.
Unitel's network consists of 515km of duct and owned fibre optic cable starting 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, increasing its reliability and lowers the likelihood of disturbances.
“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.”
Now an Exa Infrastructure company, Unitel’s optical network has 80km located in Zagreb, connecting to all major data centres including InterXion.
Croatia is strategically located to connect into Exa’s European backbone complementing this and its Trans Adriatic Express (TAE), an east-to-west conduit, with a unique north-to-south route across the Balkans.
