Projects about Broadband Europe

Although Lithuania has some of the lowest rural population densities in the EU, it managed to provide some of the highest fibre coverages for these areas through the PRIP project. PRIP brings Next Generation connectivity to rural activity centres such as farmer and rural tourism homesteads, agricultural and food processing companies, advisory offices, State forests and rural communities. The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (90% of the 5.9 million budget) enabled creating access to broadband infrastructure, including broadband access lines, network nodes and ground structures.

The Baltic States have some of the best fibre coverage in the EU. An example of this is the “Estonian Wideband Infrastructure Network” project, EstWin, which seeks to solve the rural connectivity challenge in an area underserved by telecom operators. EstWin aims to bring ultra-fast internet access within 1,5 km of all rural households, enterprises and institutions in the project area. Funded almost 100% by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), this project was a finalist in the European Broadband Awards.

“Val d'Oise Ultra-Fast Broadband Project" is one of the five winners of the European Broadband Awards 2018. The French Val d’Oise Ultra-Fast Broadband project, based on public funding, ensures that all housing, businesses and public sites in the Val d'Oise department have access to ultra-fast broadband services. Two private partners provide wholesale services to retail operators. It has a great social impact, as it directly contributes to eradicating the digital divide by allowing to those living in rural areas access the ultrafast broadband at a lower cost.

“Broadband for Mand-ø" is one of the five winners of the European Broadband Awards 2018. The project provided a high capacity network to the inhabitants of a very small island with 110 houses, located in the UNESCO world heritage area in Denmark, Wadden Sea. The local volunteers received support for broadband network from the residents of the island. As a result, almost all houses in the island are connected to the broadband network. The tourist industry now enjoys much better conditions for servicing visitors.

“Poland enters gigabit society” is one of the five winners of the European Broadband Awards 2018. This project covers the whole Poland, especially remote areas and those who do not have broadband at all. As a result, the schools in remote areas are being connected to the high-speed telecommunication services. This provides new opportunities for work, communication, education and culture for citizens living in remote regions. It is an outstanding example of how EU funds can make a real difference to the lives of citizens.

“Welcoming Sunne to the Network of the Future” is one of the five winners of the European Broadband Awards 2018. The project replaced the old copper network with fibre and mobile networks in Sunne municipality. As a result, Sunne provides modern communication infrastructure to all local inhabitants with the possibility to get download speeds of up to 1 Gbps. This project is an excellent example of investment in a future proof infrastructure.

In this video, David Johnston describes how the lack of effective broadband provision in the rural area of Balquhidder, Scotland, motivated the inhabitants to build their own network. They set up “Balquhidder Community Broadband”, a community interest company, and took on the physical task of laying down the infrastructure to bring 1 Gbps connectivity their area. This is a great example of a community-led project, combining funding sources (including LEADER), reducing costs, and putting EU funding to good use to bring high-speed broadband – and all its advantages – to a rural area.

In this interview, Heinz-Peter Labonte of Media Group Lausitz describes how becoming a finalist in the 2017 European Broadband Awards raised demand for better connectivity in rural Brandenburg, Germany, and led the Lauchhammer Glass-Fibre-City project to expand.

In this interview, Ferenc Kneisz of the Hungarian Broadband Competence Office (BCO Hungary) explains how the Superfast Internet Programme will bring broadband speeds of 30-100 Mbps throughout the country, meeting the Digital Agenda targets, closing the urban-rural digital gap and improving life for citizens.

This Irish high-speed broadband project is deploying a wholesale-only, open access Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) network to pass 364 homes and businesses in the rural area of Ballyseedy, North Kerry, Ireland. In this interview, Peter Hendrick, Growth Initiatives Managing Director for enet, describes the project as providing “broadband speeds among the highest in the country”: between 250 Mbps and 1 Gbps. There has been 30% uptake by operators in the first phase of the project, indicating a strong demand for broadband in this rural area.