FORTHnet in cooperation with STET International Nederland - S.I.N. (Holding Company- 100% Telecom Italia subsidiary, through which Telecom Italia maintains the entirety of its international holdings in fixed network and infrastructure corporations) created Mediterranean Broadband Services - an S.A. Telecommunications Corporation held at 60% by Telecom Italia and 40% by FORTHnet S.A..The new company will participate in the tendering process launched by EETT, to the purpose of granting frequencies allowing the provision of Fixed Wireless Access services. In the light of the opportunities stemming from this particular call for bids, the company to be created will be aiming at:·Developing a sound and effective infrastructure at the level of Fixed Wireless Access service network, so as to cater for a rapidly increasing demand within the business community for better bandwidth and relevant services.·Anticipating the needs to arise in the wake of the advent of the new generation of broadband services.·Setting out a truly differentiated marketing strategy, to the purpose of providing target-markets with appropriately customized solutions at high efficiency and with considerable added value to the benefit of its customers.Such cooperation will result in an upgrading and further enhancement of the range of telecom services provided by FORTHnet S.A. both to businesses and private parties. FORTHnet's stake of 40% has been the maximum rate by which our company was allowed to participate in the new entity, in accordance with the terms of the Invitation to Tender launched by EETT.The abundance of technologies and applications focusing on data, in combination with the unprecedented spread of use of the Internet worldwide obviously suggest that businesses are now faced with an urgent need for wider bandwidth facilities. The current debit at the level of the so-called "last mile" infrastructures has been the cause for several instances of throttling, cases that service providers have been trying to handle by implementing broadband wireless technology. The availability of alternative networks will be contributing to the development of competition to the benefit of both the quality and cost-effectiveness of the services provided to the Greek Economy.The worldwide market of broadband wireless access services is expected to develop at a yearly steady rate of at least 80% , which translates in 7 billion US Dollars for the year 2005 (up from 200 million US Dollars in 1999). Within the context of a worldwide trend towards a deregulation of the telecom market fosters competition while at the same time enabling new providers to enter international markets.