A jury of five broadband experts assessed the project applications and selected the following finalists:
Category 1: Innovative models of financing, business and investment
- Broadband initiative of the District of Calw, Germany
- Michaelston-y-Fedw Internet Community Interest Company, UK
- Superfast internet for all homes and businesses in the rural area of Noordoostpolder, Netherlands
Category 2: Cost reduction and co-investment in a future proof infrastructure
- Aller Valley, Asturias – FTTH Network in a rural area, Spain
- FTTx Broadband in Region Lower Lusatia - Lusatian Lake District – Brandenburg, Germany
- Welcoming Sunne to the Network of the Future, Sweden
Category 3: Territorial cohesion in rural and remote areas
- Croatian Multi Gigabit Islands – Examples of Rab and Cres, Croatia
- PEBA Basque Country - Ultrafast broadband services extension in areas of economic activity and rural zones, Spain
- Poland enters gigabit society, Poland
Category 4: Socio-economic impact and affordability
- Broadband for "Mand-ø" – Connecting the UNESCO world heritage “Wadden Sea”, Denmark
- EmiliaRomagnaWiFi, Italy
- Support for broadband infrastructure (stage II) - PRIP2, Lithuania
Category 5: Openness and competition
- Fibre optic network in the village Ilvesjoen, Finland
- Next Generation Networks for rural territories, Latvia
- Val d'Oise Ultra-Fast Broadband Project carried through 2 public initiative networks (PIN): Debitex and Vortex, France
The highest number of applications came from Denmark, Germany and Spain. The majority of projects applied in category 3 “Territorial cohesion in rural and remote areas”. The winners of the European Broadband Awards 2018 (one per category) will be honoured in a special ceremony in the evening of the 19th of November in Brussels.
The European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Mariya Gabriel will host the ceremony. Commissioner Hogan (Agriculture & Rural Development) will also hand out awards. The next day (20 November 2018) at the Broadband Day: Mind the Broadband Gap Conference, the winners will also feature in a panel, sharing their experience as best practices in Europe.
In 2018-2019, the projects will be featured on DG CONNECT webpages, in newsletters and conferences that will be displayed in the good practice database of “Broadband Europe” website.