According to PTS’s Broadband Survey, 23 per cent of village associations stated that they had already rolled out broadband – the same percentage said that they had made a start on this work or were discussing the issue. The survey clearly shows that there is a high level of activity locally and a commitment regarding broadband matters. In response to the question of what the broadband will be used for, village associations stated ‘web surfing, including banking services’ (45 per cent), ‘working from home’ (32 per cent), ‘telephony’ (31 per cent) and ‘entrepreneurship’ (30 per cent).
“It is clear that many village associations can see the positive effects of good broadband – not only can more people work from home and businesses become easier to run, but the Internet can also contribute to simplifying everyday life, for example, through the use of Internet banking services. It can also promote a greater sense of community and of participation in society,” comments Patrik Sandgren, Project Manager at PTS.
New support in October
The survey also shows that the village associations concerned about broadband rollout were those that had encountered problems with financing. PTS is now hoping that the 95 million Swedish kronor that the Swedish Government has allocated to the Agency to stimulate broadband rollout in rural areas may address the financing problem to some extent. The issue has also been prioritised by the Government’s Broadband Forum, where PTS is one of the stakeholders involved.
Village associations, other local development groups and municipalities will be able to use this money as public co-financing within the framework of the broadband support currently available, for example, the Rural Area Programme or the joint laying grant.
“We anticipate that in October it will be possible to start allocating money to co-finance broadband projects in rural areas,” says Patrik Sandgren.
PTS will present more information about this support at www.pts.se/bredbandsstod (only in Swedish) as soon as it is possible to apply for the support via the Rural Area Programme or the joint laying grant.
More information (only in Swedish) is available about the Rural Area Programme at www.jordbruksverket.se/bredband and about the joint laying grant at www.lansstyrelsen.se/orebro/amnen/bredband/kanalisationsstod.
PTS assigned TNS Sifo to conduct this survey. In total, 300 village associations from all over Sweden answered questions about broadband.
For more information please contact
Patrik Sandgren, project manager, 073-644 57 13
PTS's Press Office 08-678 55 55
About the Broadband Forum
The Government’s Broadband Forum is a meeting place for those working in the Swedish broadband market. The purpose of the Broadband Forum is to work together to help achieve the targets laid down by the Government to enable Sweden to have world-class broadband. More information is available at www.bredbandivarldsklass.se (only in Swedish).