Projects about Broadband Europe

In this video, Rikke Rosenmejer introduces the national Broadband Competence Office (BCO) of Denmark: the Danish Energy Agency’s Centre for Telecommunications. BCO Denmark’s functions include mapping mobile and broadband coverage, providing guidance and information on technologies, and running training sessions for municipalities and regions. A key task of the BCO is the development and implementation of State aid measures in Denmark, to support reaching the national and EU 2020 connectivity targets. The BCO’s broadband fund offers financial support to local demand-based projects.

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.

In order to increase investment and accelerate roll-out of high-speed broadband throughout the country, the German Broadband Competence Office (BCO) launched the Broadband Bus as part of a campaign of the Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure. In order to raise awareness and provide information, the bus tours the country offering workshops and technology exhibitions, focusing on the opportunities that digital economy may bring to citizens.

Rural Broadband Greece is a 2017 European Broadband Awards winner. It is an EU-funded Public-Private Partnership project for the development of fibre optic infrastructure bringing high-speed broadband to the most remote areas of Greece. The aims of the project are to revitalise and bring investment to these areas, to bridge the digital divide, and to provide the inhabitants with equal access to the opportunities of the digital world. The project connects 2260 remote villages with 50 Mbps over FTTC technology, through 12000 km of fibre optic infrastructure over 45% of the Greek territory.

The KempenGlas project was a finalist in the 2017 European Broadband Awards. In this video, Jacco Kwaaitaal, President of the KempenGlas Cooperative, explains how four rural municipalities came together to form the cooperative, obtain funding, and deploy a single-mode fibre network to 2200 households, with point-to-point connections of 1 Gbps.

“The Helsinki Optical Fibre Cooperative” from Finland is one of the five winners of the European Broadband Awards 2017. The residents of Marttila in the Helsinki metropolitan area established a cooperative and have built their own high-capacity network. The cooperative members financed and planned the project themselves. Also much of the works has been done by members themselves, who continue to own and manage the network. The project resulted in 96% coverage and 70% penetration.

“Broadband Network Development in White Rural Areas” is one of the five winners of the European Broadband Awards 2017. This large scale EU funded project helped deploying broadband in rural areas of Greece. It provided connectivity to more than half a million people in white areas. The total cost of the project is EUR 199.7 million (of which EUR 143.8 million from EU Structural Funds).