Intelligent engineering solutions company Fima has signed an agreement with the Lithuanian Ministry of Transport and Communications and the public body, Plačiajuostis internetas, to install networking equipment for RAIN2, the broadband internet development project for Lithuanian rural areas.

To ensure broadband access for people living in Lithuania’s more remote areas, Fima is to install network switching equipment manufactured by its American partner, Extreme Networks, uninterrupted power supply systems from Eaton, fibre optic signal converters and other hardware along the branches and terminal points of the fibre optic network currently under development.

In addition to deploying the network equipment, Fima will install electrical energy metering devices and an advanced centralised system to control and keep track of these devices at points across the network.

The work will take place at more than 1,000 locations across Lithuania.

"We are delighted to be able to use our long experience in deploying the largest fibre optic network in the Baltic States and to make our contribution to building a more advanced society. This Lithuania-wide project will give residents of small towns and rural areas access to state-of-the-art information technology tools," said Fima's Communication Solutions Product Manager Vaidotas Černiauskas.

Co-funded by the EU and the Lithuanian government, the Lithuanian broadband network project will expand coverage to rural areas and promote ongoing development of Lithuania’s advanced information society.

Once the project is finished next year, Lithuania will boast a network of close to 9,000km of fibre optic lines with almost 1,500 settlements enjoying high-speed internet access.

Lithuania launched the RAIN project in 2005. The decision to expand the existing network infrastructure was followed by the second phase of the project, RAIN-2, in which Fima has been involved since 2010.