Fifteen companies have expressed interest in the government’s fibre to the home project.

Submissions were received from the UK, the US, Spain, Slovenia, Sweden, China, France and Malta, the Infrastructure Ministry said.

The government is committed to accelerate the roll-out of ultra-fast broadband services to all Malta and Gozo, concentrating initially on priority broadband users such as businesses, schools and public services. All residential areas will then be reached in a phased approach through a nationwide fibre-to-the-home network.

The aim of having an ultra-fast broadband network is in line with the EU-wide objective of 100 Mbps service availability and widespread take-up by 2020.