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Mountain regions have much to gain from digitalisation and broadband connectivity. There is great potential for Smart Villages, SMEs, and access to online services in healthcare, education and much more. Mountain communities, however, face greater obstacles than most in becoming full participants in the European Union’s Digital Decade. Their remoteness, in terms of distance and topography, combined with smaller populations, make them technically and financially challenging to reach with broadband infrastructure.

“Spain is the first European country to develop a broadband scheme for grey areas with a geographical scope covering all the nation” states Elena Galindo from Spain’s Ministry of Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda, in this video. Ms Galindo, representing Spain’s national Broadband Competence Office, explains that the scheme is needed as approximately “8-10% of the population living in isolated rural and remote areas could not be covered with fast broadband”. It aims to cover 3.5 million people, of which 430,000 in grey areas, with minimum speeds of 300 Mbps symmetrical, upgradeable to 1 Gbps.

The Farm Advisory System makes innovative knowledge and practices accessible to all farmers. “We are facing a major transformation of the agricultural sector that requires a shift towards more environmentally-friendly practices without undermining economic sustainability” explains Tassos Haniotis, Director of Strategy, Simplification and Policy Analysis in the European Commission’s Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development. Digitalisation and rural broadband are crucial, enhancing knowledge exchange and creating multiplier effects, such as new jobs and services in rural areas.

“In our journey to digital maturity, affordable high-speed broadband is key for a dynamic digital economy and an accessible and inclusive digital society” states Stelios Himonas of Cyprus’ Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy. Only 2.7% of households in Cyprus, however, have fixed connections above 100 Mbps. In this video, Mr Himonas explains how Cyprus implemented a ‘good practice’ voucher scheme, inspired by the European Broadband Competence Offices Network. By reducing the cost of access for end users, the scheme successfully stimulated take-up by around 3,000 households.

Europe’s digital transformation by 2030 relies on providing citizens with access to a gigabit connectivity and 5G services. Europe digital decade begins with the relaunch of European Broadband Awards for 2021! All projects advanced in implementation, big or small, rural or urban, private or public, local, regional, national or cross-border, and covering all technologies are welcome to apply for the 2021 awards. The application deadline is the 17th of September 2021. The winners will receive an EU Broadband Award in the Autumn and will be showcased by the European Commission in the media, EU

Calais is the first Dutch broadband project funded by the Connecting Europe Broadband Fund (CEBF). The province of Groningen approached CEBF when they recognised their need for additional funding as well as a more strategic partner to reach the most remote areas. The resulting partnership will bring NGA access to over 100,000 inhabitants, combining fibre with a fixed wireless network for the hardest-to-reach areas. In this video, Jan Peter de Groot, Rodin Group CEO, explains that the pandemic made it very clear that people in all areas need to be able to “connect with the whole world”.

As part of the Catalonian citizens’ initiative, Guifi.net, volunteers have helped install over 40,000 nodes, connecting 100,000 rural inhabitants. In this video, Ramon Roca, Guifi.net founder, explains how, since its foundation, the project has driven demand as well as rural development, becoming both a “local ecosystem” and a business model, and growing increasingly affordable as it expands. Driven by volunteers, Guifi.net focuses on building the infrastructure and cooperation between public administrations, local entrepreneurs and ISPs, among others.