IT-infrastructure in Sweden 2002 - Summary
15/08/2002
PTS has been given the assignment by the Government to monitor the development of accessibility to IT infrastructure with higher transmission capacity.
The IT policy objective is that Sweden will be the first country to become an information society for all. Increased accessibility is a priority task for the Government, with the objective that households and business in all parts of Sweden shall within the next few years gain access to IT infrastructure with higher transmission capacity. The objective shall be attained primarily through the advancement of the market. Municipalities may receive economic aid for first, the establishment of IT infrastructure programmes, second, development where the market is not expected to build out.
PTS considers that the development of the network is continuing. The fibre cable network has increased by 15 per cent from May 2001 to March 2002 and extends to 98,000 kilometres. There has also been some development of the radio link network. There is a national backbone network in all municipalities, while in just over 90 per cent of the municipalities there are area networks in at least some part of the municipality. In 40 per cent of all urban areas there is at least one actor who owns an area network.
PTS considers that the objective of geographical access to IT infrastructure in all parts of Sweden has not yet been satisfied. There are clear regional differences in accessibility to IT infrastructure with higher transmission capacity where sparsely populated areas have poorer access than large cities. The interest of the market in developing the IT infrastructure and offering subscriptions is greater in large cities than in the groups of municipalities comprising industrial municipalities and rural municipalities.
The number of private customers with Internet access with higher transmission capacity has almost quadrupled in 15 months. PTS estimates that the number of private customers is between 510,000 and 540,000 as of March 2002, which corresponds to a broadband penetration of approximately 12 per cent. Upon an international comparison, Sweden is in third place among the OECD countries as regards broadband penetration.
Over 50 per cent of the municipalities have been granted or applied for aid for their IT infrastructure programmes. Otherwise, the aid has been used to a limited extent.
The IT infrastructure provides opportunities for regional development but these opportunities must be utilised in order for positive regional effects to arise. Through, among other things, strengthening entrepreneurship and increasing IT skills in business, society can contribute towards the advance resulting in regional development.