RETN expands Balkans fibre backbone
Author: Joe Peck
RETN, an independent global network service provider, has launched a new backbone route connecting Drobeta, Bucharest, Iași, and Chișinău, creating an additional connectivity path across Romania and into Moldova.
Delivered as a single, end-to-end backbone route, the expansion provides an alternative physical connectivity option to existing regional IP transit corridors in Eastern Europe.
The new route forms part of RETN’s wider strategy to expand its optical network infrastructure across Central and Eastern Europe.
By linking Romania and Moldova with the company’s existing Balkans corridor between Budapest, Timișoara, and Sofia, the project introduces additional geographical route diversity across the region.
The backbone also enables alternative routing into Ukraine via Moldova and into the Balkans through Bulgaria, offering additional routing options for regional and international traffic flows.
New routing options across Eastern Europe
Olena Lutsenko, Business Development Director at RETN, comments, “This project is an important step in strengthening connectivity resilience in Romania.
“Bucharest and Iași are rapidly developing hubs for business, education, and technology, and demand for resilient, high-capacity infrastructure is rising fast.
“By delivering a direct route from Timișoara to Bucharest and onward to Chișinău, we are enabling faster, more scalable access to the region from the Balkans, Ukraine, and Central and Eastern Europe in general – for operators, ISPs, enterprises, and international customers.”
The expansion comes amid continued fibre infrastructure growth across Romania and Eastern Europe.
According to the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications of Romania (ANCOM), Romania recorded 6.9 million fixed broadband connections in mid-2025, with 37% capable of gigabit speeds.
The regulator also reported continued growth in demand for ultra-high-speed internet services and increasing fixed broadband traffic per capita. Internet adoption across Romania was estimated at approximately 94% of the population in late 2025.
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