By David Meyer, 29 January 2009 17:22
NEWS
The European Commission has proposed a €1bn investment in rural broadband across member states, as part of a general economic recovery plan in the midst of the recession.
The investment, if approved, would help "extend and upgrade high-speed internet in rural communities", according to a Commission statement on Wednesday. The money would be channelled through the EU's rural development fund and would target the 30 per cent of the European rural population that currently has no broadband access.
"The extension and upgrading of high-speed internet infrastructure is an economic and social imperative," the statement read.
"The European Economic Recovery Plan set out a goal of developing broadband networks to achieve a full 100 per cent high-speed internet coverage by 2010. However, rural areas will always face additional difficulties in linking up to broadband. As investment slows to a trickle, this risk is redoubled. This has direct social and economic consequences."
It is not yet clear, however, whether any of the rural broadband investment will make it here, particularly as the UK already has some of the highest rural broadband penetration in Europe. The countries named in the Commission's statement as being in particular need of investment include Poland, Greece and Slovakia. silicon.com sister site ZDNet UK has approached the Commission to find out whether the UK might benefit from the scheme but had not received a reply at the time of writing.
The Commission hopes broadband connectivity will create a million jobs and give an €850bn boost to the European economy between 2006 and 2015. It also said in the statement that the European funds will "be used in addition to private investments and national funding", and will help economically disadvantaged areas become better placed for economic recovery.
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1. Chris Goodman
Obviously the EU must have a surfeit of funds if unelected Brussels can spare a billion euros to subsidise broadband. Perhaps it should reduce the amount it claws from member nations, allowing them extra cash to spend on regenerating their individual economies. I would love to see broadband extended to give everyone access but this must be a commercially economic reality If there is any justification for the EU to get involved in broadband provision it must be restricted to ensuring that the international big, big, fat pipes are adequate for the future.