13-10-2008

Lithuanian TV to mortgage Vilnius TV tower

By Aukse Kancereviciute

    Lithuanian Radio and Television Centre LRTC http://www.lrtc.lt/index.html plans to mortgage Vilnius TV tower to fund an upgrade in services.

    LRTC , which owns TV tower, plans to launch a new commercial project: a mobile broadband internet service WiMAX. The first stage of WiMAX implementation will take three years, with equipment costs estimated at 100 million Litas (29 million Euros).

    The station signed a contract with Samsung Electronics for equipment for WiMAX net. Three Lithuanian banks underwrote credit for the project.

    LRTC stressed that worth of the TV tower was evaluated by real estate specialists. The TV tower and four properties will be mortgaged for 5 million Euros.

    Lithuanian Radio and Television Centre plans to launch mobile broadband internet in Vilnius at the beginning of the next year. Is also projected that by 2010 the service will reach 63% of population of Lithuania.