The European BCO Network brings together EU Member States’ national and regional public authorities in charge of broadband deployment to exchange knowledge and good practices with peers, experts and European Commission representatives, building their capacity to bring reliable, high-speed broadband connectivity to all EU citizens.
The purpose of the initiative is to help ensure that all EU citizens have access to high-speed broadband, in order to allow everyone to benefit equally from the opportunities connectivity brings, for health, education, business and more.
Contact the BCO Network Support Facility to enquire about joining the BCO Network. Participate in the discussions in the BCO forum.
The role of the BCO Network
The BCO Network’s role is to support European Broadband Competence Offices (BCOs) in making this happen. BCOs are the national and regional public authorities supporting broadband deployment across the EU.
It does this through an annual programme, based on members’ needs, that brings together BCOs, experts and European Commission representatives to train and exchange knowledge, good practices and experiences in overcoming common challenges. Read more about the programme in the 2020 Activity Report and the 2021 Annual Work Plan Summary.
Latest news
Marking the BCO Network's five-year milestone, the 2021 Annual Conference will address important EU policy and funding developments, as well as BCOs' achievements and goals. The agenda will include Rural Digital Futures, Gigabit targets and the Digital Compass, EU Structural Funds and the Recovery and Resilience Facility, State aid and evolving technology, and CEF2 Digital. The final agenda will be shared with participants directly. This online event is open to all members of the European Broadband Competence Offices Network.
Thanks to the European Regional Development Fund, Catalonia built a fibre backbone to connect over 400 government and local administration sites across the region. By offering the network’s extra capacity to the market, this ‘open network’ allows local operators to compete to use the infrastructure and deploy services to under-served rural areas. “We have generated an ecosystem of over 80 local operators to promote competence and competitiveness in these local areas with very high-quality services”, explains David Ferrer, Catalonian’s Secretary of Digital Policies, in this video interview.
In this video, Jouke Velstra, Director and Senior Consultant at Acacia Water, explains how the EU-funded ‘Farmers measure water’ project combines high-speed rural broadband and state-of-the-art sensors to help farmers and water authorities in the Netherlands to better manage water usage in the face of climate change. Through rapidly relaying data on soil moisture, temperature and salinity, farmers and water authorities work together to keep crops healthy, improve water and soil quality, and reduce water waste.
Bavaria’s State aid scheme is bringing gigabit-capable infrastructure to businesses, households, hospitals, educational and public institutions, in more than 420 rural municipalities. The scheme aims to bring Bavaria’s overall high-speed broadband coverage to 99%, with gigabit access throughout Bavaria by 2025. For rural areas, State funding has improved coverage (of at least 30 Mbps) from 27% to over 92% in the last seven years, notes Bavarian State Minister for Finance and Regional Identity, Albert Füracker, in this video interview.
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Big Picture
Increasing broadband network coverage is key for reaching the EU's Gigabit Society objectives. EU businesses, project managers, as well as local and regional authorities can find information on broadband best practices, financing tools, technological and business solutions, as...
Dig deeper
Find answers to common questions on the European Broadband Competence Offices (BCOs) Network.
See Also
Find current information on broadband development in each country, as well as national strategies and policies for developing broadband.
The European Broadband Awards is an event that recognises outstanding broadband deployment projects in Europe and highlights successful infrastructures.
To make high-speed broadband quickly available, the EU established a set of harmonised measures to lower the cost of rolling out broadband, through the Broadband Cost Reduction Directive.
The Broadband planning section, along with the Broadband investment guide aids municipalities and other entities in their planning of successful broadband development projects.