EU funding backs Austria's connectivity plans

21 March 2022 11:30

All Austrians may soon gain access to high-speed internet thanks to a new EU-approved €2 billion government aid scheme to provide at least 100 megabit-per-second (Mbps) broadband speeds to the entire country.

Priority will be given to areas where there is no current or planned networks, supporting the Austrian government's plans to increase digitalisation for businesses and the general public, and is set to run until December 21, 2026.

“This €2 billion scheme allows Austria to address its digital challenges. It enables high performing broadband networks to households and businesses, in particular in rural areas. At the same time, it ensures that competition is not unduly distorted," Commission Executive President Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

The funding will be allocated through direct grants which will be used to finance the necessary infrastructure, such as boxes, fibre cables, ducts and cabinets to ensure 100 Mbps download and upload speeds, the Commission claims.

Priority will be given to areas that "do not currently have access to internet speeds of up to 30 Mbps," with passive rollout expected for areas where internet infrastructure has seen little-to-no development.

Speeds often lack in these areas due to high development costs that private suppliers are not willing to spend, due to sparse population, extreme isolation or topographical issues.

This scheme could stand to greatly increase accessibility for more rural areas of the country.

Much of day-to-day life, from shopping to leisure, is based on online platforms and access to the internet is becoming more necessary with each passing day.

The opportunities that access to online networks brings is one of the reasons why internet access was declared a fundamental human right by the UN in 2016. In theory, the internet also brings greater freedoms, such as freedom of expression, and access to a greater wealth of information.

Internet access and social media are also becoming more important for helping businesses grow. The deployment of these new services is necessary to "stimulate the market", the Commission claims.

The Austrian government hopes to capitalise on these investments as part of its strategy to provide gigabit connectivity - internet speed of at least 1 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) - by 2030.

The Commission also claims the plan has "sufficient safeguards to ensure that undue distortions of competition are limited and do not adversely affect trading conditions contrary to the common interest."

The European Union has vowed to increase internet speeds in the bloc, while also having made plans to increase connectivity between the Union and partners in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America.

The EU has some of the highest rates of internet use in the world, with official data showing as many as 92% of households may have access to an internet connection.

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