Interview with Ivan Uremovic Access Networks Strategy and Planning Director at Hrvatski Telekom

Q: You've progressed to become the Access Networks Strategy and Planning Director at Hrvatski Telekom. Could you walk us through the key milestones in your career journey and how they prepared you for your current leadership role?

After earning my degree in radio communications and professional electronics from FER, University of Zagreb, in 1999, I joined A1 Croatia (previously: Vipnet) during its startup phase with just 40 employees in team. Growing up as a refugee from Bosnia and Herzegovina (due to war circumstances from 1991-1994), I developed resilience and adaptability early on, which have been vital throughout my career.

At A1, I progressed from 2G/3G network planning roles to Principal for Quality and Development of 3G/4G networks, overseeing capacity expansion, strategy, investment planning, and cross-functional collaboration between marketing and technology over 18 years.

In 2017, I moved to Hrvatski Telekom (HT), part of Deutsche Telekom, taking senior managerial roles. Since 2018, I have led Croatia’s largest mobile network modernization program—a comprehensive, three-year effort involving reconstruction of over 2,000 sites, deployment of 5G-ready SRAN equipment, coverage and capacity improvements, and innovative spectrum management. This program enabled HT’s successful 5G launch in 2020, positioning our company as a leader in mobile connectivity.

These 25 years of experience in telco have prepared me to lead access network strategy and planning, ensuring readiness for ongoing industry evolution and transformation in fixed and mobile access networks.

Q: As Access Networks Strategy and Planning Director at Hrvatski Telekom, you're part of the Deutsche Telekom group. How has being connected to a global telecommunications leader influenced your approach to network strategy in the Croatian market?

Being part of the Deutsche Telekom Group, which has 200,000 employees globally, offers invaluable benefits. I collaborate with colleagues across Europe and beyond through different DT group initiatives, gaining insights into cutting-edge technologies from various European markets as well as the US and other regions.

The Deutsche Telekom Group maintains open cooperation with major global telecom operators, fostering strong partnerships and shaping new initiatives with vendors. We also have a two-way exchange with vendors—while receiving their excellent support, we provide valuable feedback based on our deep understanding of local markets, in my case particularly of the Croatian market.

Taking all these elements into account, I am in a favourable position to leverage this broad portfolio of information, experience, and collaboration, translating it into optimal network development strategies and transformations for Hrvatski Telekom. This helps us quickly adopt advanced solutions and optimize investments.

Being part of Deutsche Telekom enables us to deliver a future-ready network tailored to local needs while benefiting from the strength, innovation, and scale of a global leader.

Q: Hrvatski Telekom has been recognized as the leading telecom in Croatia. From your perspective in network strategy and planning, what technological innovations do you believe have been most critical to maintaining this market leadership?

Hrvatski Telekom’s leading telco position is the result of a comprehensive transformation journey over the past 15 years. As an incumbent operator, we faced significant challenges from legacy systems, processes, and tools. We have since evolved into a modern, agile organization capable of swiftly tracking market trends, recognizing new technologies, and incorporating the most advanced solutions to maintain our leadership.

Technological innovation critical to this success includes modernization of our infrastructure resulting in major investments in expanding the largest FTTH network in Croatia and completing nationwide 5G-ready mobile network in 2019. Shutdown of the 3G has allowed us to reallocate spectrum to faster, more efficient 4G and 5G, significantly improving network capacity, speed and sustainability.

From my perspective, a key enabler of these achievements has been building a team of skilled, growth-oriented subject-matter experts whose dedication drives change and results. Additionally, leveraging valuable internal data and pushing automation, we have already streamlined many repetitive, time-consuming tasks, leaving time for more creative, high-value activities, supported by closed-loop operations without human intervention.

These efforts, combined with strong vendor partnerships and ongoing investments, allow us to deliver a future-ready network, unmatched in Croatia, and consistently recognized as the best by independent research. This blend of technology, talent, and innovation keeps us ahead in a competitive market.

Q: How do you see the relationship between network infrastructure development and business transformation evolving in the telecommunications industry over the next 3-5 years?

In fixed networks, fiber-optic technology (FTTH) is a long-term solution, capable of supporting increasingly demanding services thanks to its huge capacity. With relatively minor investments in active XGS-PON equipment and customer premises devices, we can continuously upgrade our infrastructure to meet future needs.

In mobile networks, we are reaching a pivotal point where most customers use unlimited plans, and spectral resources are fully utilized. Because of this, business models are gradually shifting toward differentiation based on 5G standalone (5G SA) network slicing. This allows us to prioritize connectivity features for specific users and applications, offering premium services for customers willing to pay more.

Such innovations tightly link network infrastructure development with evolving business strategies—enabling personalized, flexible service offerings while maximizing resource efficiency and preparing operators for the digital opportunities ahead.

Q: With the rapid advancement of technologies like 5G, fiber deployment, and network virtualization, what strategic approaches has Hrvatski Telekom adopted to prioritize investments while ensuring both short-term results and long-term competitive advantage?

At Hrvatski Telekom, we adopt a complementary technological approach to meet diverse customer needs. While fiber-optic (FTTH) deployment remains our long-term backbone for fixed networks—offering massive capacity and enabling ever more demanding services—we also recognize areas where fiber is not yet available. For those locations, especially in suburban and rural regions, we provide 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), delivering fast, reliable fixed internet services using our advanced 5G network.

This approach ensures all customers can access high-quality connectivity tailored to their environment. On the mobile side, we focus on peak demand areas like the coast, where both domestic and roaming usage grow significantly, and we develop specialized campus solutions for our B2B customers.

Together with maximizing fiber utilization, this strategy balances immediate market needs with long-term infrastructure investments, enabling us to maintain leadership by combining the best of fixed and mobile technologies.

Q: You'll be speaking at Network X in Paris this October. Can you share what specific topics or insights you're planning to address in your presentation, and why you believe they're particularly relevant to the global telco community right now?

At Network X in Paris this October, I will present on the topic "Leveraging FWA and fiber for copper decommissioning." The insights I share—including the challenges of ensuring nationwide new fixed service within 30 days, the complementary use of fiber and 5G FWA to reach both: well-covered and hard-to-reach areas, and managing high customer satisfaction—form the foundation of a broader strategy to phase out legacy copper networks.

This alternative and new technology coverage directly creates the preconditions for migrating all users from aging copper infrastructure. By successfully transitioning customers to fiber and FWA, operators like Hrvatski Telekom can effectively retire copper networks, unlocking benefits such as improved service quality, operational efficiencies, and sustainability.

This topic is highly relevant globally as many telcos face similar copper decommissioning challenges, and flexible technology agendas that combine fiber and wireless access are critical enablers of a future-proof, high-performance connectivity ecosystem.

Q: Beyond your own session, what discussions or technological showcases at Network X 2025 are you most looking forward to engaging with, and how do you anticipate they might influence your strategic planning work at Hrvatski Telekom?

At Network X 2025, apart from leading my own session, I am particularly eager to delve into discussions and showcases surrounding AI, RAN, fibre, and FWA technologies.

The AI-focused sessions, including ETSI’s work on AI-driven network automation and the panel on AI’s role in enhancing optical transport and network operations, are highly relevant to our efforts at Hrvatski Telekom. These innovations offer pathways to increase operational efficiency, predictive maintenance, and customer experience–all central to our long-term strategy.

Moreover, the topics centered on RAN, especially the evolution toward autonomous and open RAN architectures, align with our path to optimizing mobile networks and embracing virtualization for agility and scalability.

In the fibre domain, sessions on advanced fibre technologies such as XGS-PON, 25G and 50G PON, and the integration of fibre with wireless solutions like FWA, resonate with our integrated approach to expanding coverage while managing investments effectively.

Engaging with these discussions will reinforce and enrich our strategic planning at Hrvatski Telekom, helping us to stay at the forefront of technology adoption while balancing innovation, customer needs, and sustainability.