The Croatian government drafted the National Broadband Development Plan 2021-2027 (NBADP) and solicited public comments. The plan intends to develop a very large capacity network (VHCN) in urban and rural areas to enable data transmission to reach gigabit per second, introduce the very large capacity network into homes and public use, and provide 5G services in urban and rural areas and major road areas.

The Croatian Network Industry Regulatory Authority (HAKOM) stated that the plan encourages investment in infrastructure and 5G in rural areas and areas with poor broadband access to ensure that end users receive high-quality network services. HAKOM has set up a 5G zone on its website, and is preparing to implement 5G, participate in the implementation of the Croatian national broadband development plan, and implement the EU 5G action plan. According to the EU's 5G Action Plan, Ke should provide 5G commercial services in at least one larger city by 2020, and 5G should cover all cities and major transportation routes by 2025.

HAKOM hopes to introduce more online public services in the fields of healthcare and education, which will promote new concepts and applications of the economic system, such as Industry 4.0, big data, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things, and smart cities. HACOM said that in the crisis of the new crown epidemic, the digital divide between urban and rural areas and between families with different socioeconomic status has become obvious. In the post-new crown epidemic era, the digital transformation of the society will accelerate, and an appropriate digital foundation is needed to achieve rapid data transmission. And maintain the flexibility and reliability of the connection.

Several major telecommunications operators in Croatia support the above-mentioned national plan. Among them, the Croatian Telecom Company (HT) launched a commercial 5G network a month ago. However, there is still a part of the population that does not use the Internet. Editor/Xu Shengpeng