Broadband in Estonia

Summary of broadband development in Estonia

The Estonian Digital Agenda 2030 focuses on developing digital public services, cybersecurity and improving connectivity across the country. The Estonian Broadband Plan 2030 describes actions to achieve goals set by the Estonia’s Digital Agenda 2030.

National broadband strategy and policy

Responsible authorities

• The process of broadband deployment is managed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (MKM, Majandus-ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium). The Ministry is responsible for broadband strategy and legislation.
• The Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA, Tarbijakaitse ja Tehnilise Järelevalve Amet) is a governmental organisation operating in the administrative area of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. It oversees and regulates technical standards and collects market data. The aim of the Authority is to help implement the national economic policy through improvement of safety, organising the expedient use of limited resources and increasing the reliability of the products in the field of manufacturing environments, industrial equipment, railway and electronic communication.
• The Estonian Broadband Development Foundation (ELASA, Eesti Lairiba Arenduse Sihtasutuse) is responsible for the EstWin project, installation of fibre-optic cables and construction of connection points.
• The Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications (ITL, Eesti Infotehnoloogia ja Telekommunikatsiooni Liit) unites Estonian ICT companies, promotes their cooperation, presents their joint positions regarding broadband network development and acts as a competence centre.
• The Information System Authority (RIA, Riigi Infosüsteemi Amet) is an implementing entity of the structural assistance of the European Union, which administers the European Regional Development Fund support in building the broadband backhaul network.

Main aims for broadband development

Estonia’s Digital Agenda 2030 was adopted on 7 October 2021. The strategy is in line with the Gigabit Society connectivity targets. The overall objective of the strategy is to achieve high-speed, reliable, and affordable electronic communications connections in the country by 2030, irrespective of the location. To implement the vision, three specific goals have been set:

• digital government (i.e. the use of digital solutions in the public sector)
• electronic communication (i.e. connectivity)
• national cyber security

By 2030, ultrafast, reliable and affordable telecommunications connections should be available in Estonia irrespective of the location, making it possible to create and use innovative services. All should have access to connections of at least 100 Mbps which can be increased up to 1 Gbps. The government will support the development of very high capacity access networks in rural areas where telecommunications companies do not invest under the conditions of competition.

The support will also be granted to a) establish core infrastructure in the main transport corridors in Estonia, allowing for uninterrupted 5G coverage, b) secure coverage of selected residential and business areas with 5G and c) necessary preparations for the adoption of 6G when the relevant technology arrives on the market.

The Estonian Broadband Plan 2030 was published in 2023. The plan describes actions necessary to achieve goals set by the Estonia’s Digital Agenda 2030. The plan provides an overview of the network coverage and the plans of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (MKM) to support the construction of communication infrastructure in market failure areas in 2022-2030, as well as provision of an uninterrupted 5G connections along the main transport corridors. Public subsidies of EUR 89 million are planned. In addition, achieving goals set by the Gigabit society will require further investments by the state of approximately EUR 200 million.

With its 5G roadmap, Estonia would like to achieve 5G connectivity in major cities by 2023 and along transport corridors by 2025. A dedicated working group on 5G has been set up at ministry level. Work is ongoing to assess business use and find the financing model for the 5G deployment. The authorities are also committed to cooperating on 5G corridors with Latvia and Lithuania in the framework of the Via Baltica project. The Baltic States would like to map the electronic communications infrastructure alongside the corridor and to identify infrastructure gaps.

Main measures and financial instruments for broadband development

A central mapping tool (Communications Coverage Application) on availability of broadband services has been developed by the Estonian Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA). It is an interactive portal, where the users can get information about the availability of broadband services in Estonia.

The Estonian Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) dedicates EUR 208 million (24%) to the digital transformation. The entire amount is expected to be spent on the efforts to achieve the Digital Decade targets. Substantial digital investments include EUR 93 million to upgrade digital government services drawing on the latest technologies, EUR 58 million to support 230 SMEs in their digital transition and EUR 24 million to deploy very high capacity networks in rural areas.

In addition, to support construction of VHNC networks in rural areas, EUR 45 million from the ERDF have been allocated to build VHCN in rural areas between 2023 and 2027.

EstWin project

In 2009, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications (ITL) founded the Estonian Broadband Development Foundation (ELASA) to implement the EstWin project and to give all residential houses, businesses and authorities a chance to connect to the next-generation broadband network with a transmission speed up to 100 Mbps. These investments are intended to stimulate complementary deployments of last-mile connections by commercial telecom operators. The project rolled out approximately 7.000 km of fibre backhaul networks in rural areas and settlements with less than 10,000 inhabitants, where optical networks did not previously exist and where operators had no previous plans to install them. EstWin is funded inter alia from European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF). The implemented and planned parts of the network are visualised on the online map. The EstWin project is nearing completion, the backhaul network is almost finalised, and only small part of southeast Estonia remains to be covered.

Data on broadband development and technologies in Estonia

For the latest data on broadband coverage, subscriptions and penetrations, coverage of different broadband technologies check the country reports of the Digital Economy & Society Index (DESI).

Spectrum assignments for wireless broadband

For details on harmonised spectrum assignments, please consult the European 5G Observatory report.

National and EU publications and press documents

English

• Estonian Digital Agenda 2030
• Broadband Investment Handbook
• Mobile and Fixed Broadband Prices in Europe 2022
• Study on National Broadband Plans in the EU27
• Broadband Connectivity Reports and Analyses

Estonian

• Digiühiskonna arengukava 2030
• Eesti Lairiba Plaan 2030

Contact information

BCO Estonia (national Broadband Competence Office): Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (MKM, Majandus-ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium)

Address: Suur-Ameerika 1, 10129 Tallinn, Estonia
Contact via email
Phone: +372 639 76 81
Website

Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (Tarbijakaitse ja Tehnilise Järelevalve Amet)

Address: Sõle 23 A, Tallinn 10614, Estonia
Contact via email
Phone: +372 667 2000
Website

Estonian Broadband Development Foundation (Eesti Lairiba Arenduse Sihtasutuse)

Address: Harju 6, 10130 Tallinn, Estonia
Contact via email
Phone: +372 6310555
Website

Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications (Eesti Infotehnoloogia ja Telekommunikatsiooni Liit)

Address: Lõõtsa 6, 11415 Tallinn, Estonia
Contact via email
Phone: + 372 6177 145
Website