On Monday 21 March, the European Commission approved a €2 billion Austrian scheme under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) to rollout passive infrastructure for fixed broadband access networks in areas of the country where there is no current or planned network able to provide at least 100 megabits per second (Mbps) download speed.
The Austrian scheme will be partially funded via the RRF, following the Commission’s positive assessment of the Austrian Recovery and Resilience Plan and its adoption by the EU Council.
The scheme will run until 31 December 2026 and will take the form of direct grants. The measure will finance the deployment of passive infrastructure for fixed broadband access networks offering speeds of at least 100 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload, which is capable of supporting the provision of gigabit speeds in the future. The scheme will give priority to the financing of infrastructure in areas where end users do not yet have broadband access at download speeds of at least 30 Mbps.
The measure aims at supporting the deployment of high-performing fixed broadband networks in Austria, especially in rural areas. It is designed to stimulate the wholesale market to encourage more private investment in networks (gigabit connectivity for all Austrian businesses and citizens by 2030). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)