The Project "Granting GRNET for the purpose of leasing fiber optic infrastructure" includes a new lease and the upgrade of the existing network infrastructure so that the entities connected to GRNET network, namely all the academic and research institutions of the country, the pan-Hellenic school network, a significant number of public hospitals of the country, as well as other public bodies involved in research and education, will continue to be provided with relevant services.

GRNET SA has a national fiber optic infrastructure of 10,000 km total length, which has been established gradually since 2005, in order to meet the needs of the country's research and academic institutions. The fiber optic network as well as its extension through the interconnection of new points of interest during the past years, have been implemented through fifteen-year term IRU type of contracts, similar to those concluded by research networks worldwide. The new project will allow GRNET to keep providing high level services to its affiliated entities.

The project aims at carrying on the provision of network services to entities connected to the GRNET network, as well as the improvement of the fiber optic infrastructure features, in accordance with international standards.

A key benefit is serving the affiliated entities and their users (researchers-academics-administrative staff), who shall keep having uninterrupted access to the network, reinforcing the development and utilisation of cutting-edge technologies to a similar extent with the respective communities worldwide. Besides the connected entities, the citizens of the country shall continue to have access as everyday users to GRNET's digital services designed in the context of addressing the coronavirus pandemic (e.g. edupass, vaccine) and the digital transformation of the Public Sector (e.g. Single Digital Portal gov.gr).

More specifically, the project includes

• the provision of services to the affiliated entities,
•  the acquisition of long-term use rights (lease) under Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU) type of contracts and the maintenance of the national fiber optic infrastructure, with characteristics corresponding to the currently existing ones.
• the improvement of the reliability of the infrastructure. The national fiber optic infrastructure which will be acquired, will replace the existing one and enhance the network reliability. The new infrastructure will consist of new nodes in the network trunk, since for each node at least one alternative route needs to be established in its interconnection with the rest of the network trunk.  In this context, it is likely that optical network node transfer operations may also be carried out.

The project has been included in the Recovery and Resilience Fund, which is financed by the European Union – Next Generation EU.