Brussels, 08/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 8 February, the European Commission approved a duct support scheme and other financial measures to increase broadband access in unserved rural areas in the German region of Saxony. The Commission found the scheme to be in line with its Broadband Guidelines, in particular because it will allow operators to deploy their own cables, thereby enhancing the possibilities for infrastructure-based competition.
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes commented, “Well targeted aid can help to reduce the digital divide without crowding out private investment”. She went on to say that she was satisfied that the public funding for ducts “will significantly reduce the proportion of unserved areas in Saxony without unduly distorting competition”.
Connecting rural communities with broadband services is usually not commercially attractive for private operators because the low population density does not allow them to attract enough subscribers to make their investment profitable, the Commission says in a press release. This can result in huge differences in broadband availability in the territory of a member state.
The German scheme allows municipalities in Saxony to offer municipally-owned ducts to broadband operators. This will result in significant cost savings for broadband operators and should enable them to deploy their own network elements in areas in which there would normally be no commercial interest to do so. Municipalities are obliged to offer multi-fibre ducts which can host a large number of competing cables which should stimulate competition to the benefit of customers in these areas. The scheme also provides for financial grants to operators for the completion of their broadband projects. The public support is limited to €500,000 per project, but the requirement to rely on existing infrastructure wherever possible should help to create local solutions for so far neglected areas. (L.C./transl.rt)