On Wednesday 31 July, the European Commission approved a Greek support measure for an Ultrafast Broadband Infrastructure system.
This €300 million measure aims to provide ultra-fast broadband services to customers in parts of Greece where connectivity is insufficient. In practical terms, the expected downstream flows in these areas should be at least 100 Megabits per second and could be as high as 1 Gigabit per second.
The beneficiaries of these new services will be households, businesses and public institutions.
The aid will be granted through an open, transparent and non-discriminatory selection procedure, and all technologies will be eligible to participate. The subsidised network must provide full access to all operators on a non-discriminatory basis, and access prices will be subject to monitoring by a Greek authority.
After determining that the positive effects on competition in the Greek broadband market would outweigh the potentially negative effects, the Commission concluded that the measure was compatible with EU State aid rules and, more specifically, with the 2013 Broadband Guidelines. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)