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Shaping Europe’s digital future
Video | Foilseachán

The Connecting Europe Broadband Fund

The Connecting Europe Broadband Fund invests in underserved areas where there are strong opportunities for profitability.

Photo of the European Investment Bank

European Investment Bank

The European Investment Bank

The purpose of the Connecting Europe Broadband Fund (CEBF), launched in 2018, is to contribute to the achievement of gigabit connectivity objectives. Eligible countries to receive funding are EU Member States, Norway, Iceland and the United Kingdom. The fund held its final close in June 2021, raising €555 million for broadband investment and is expected to unlock total investments of €1-1.7 billion. Its public investors include the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Commission, and National Promotional Banks from France (Caisse des Dépôts), Germany (KfW), and Italy (Cassa depositi e prestiti). 

To date, the CEBF has invested in nine projects across Europe:

Project

Inv. date

Location

Sector

Target size

Rune Crow

Jan 2019

Croatia

Open Access Network FttH

117k homes

Rune Enia

Apr 2019

Slovenia

Open Access Network FttH

190k homes in rural areas

Trooli

Apr 2019

United Kingdom

Open Access Network FttH

 

400k residential and business premises in areas within semi-dense geo-types

Rede Aberta

Mar 2020

Spain

Open Access Network FttH

400k units in the rural and semi-rural areas of Galicia

Scancom

Jul 2020

Czech Republic

 

Open Access Network FttH

 

Over 200k homes by the end of 2030

Rodin Group

Sep 2020

Netherlands

Open Access Network FttH

127k houses in two phases

Unifiber

Dec 2020

 

Italy

Open Access Network FttH/O

195k residential houses and 8k offices within 4 years of deployment

Asteo Red Neutra

Jul 2021

Spain

Open Access Network FttH

160k units in the rural and semi-rural areas of several provinces across Castilla & Leon and Extremadura

Fibernet

Oct 2022

Finland

Open Access Network FttH

41k houses in a 1st phase

The main eligibility criteria for projects can be summarized as follows:

  • Eligible projects (whether fixed line or mobile) should make a significant contribution to the achievement of the targets of the Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE), which means, at the minimum, the support to the connectivity necessary to achieve the DAE Target 2 (30 Mbps) and/or Target 3 (100 Mpbs). Furthermore, in case of fixed line networks, minimum speed levels in line with DAE target 3 (100 Mbps) should be permanently available for at least one or several retail products out of the operator’s commercial product offerings. A priority should be given to projects that facilitate the transition towards a European Gigabit Society by the deployment of networks upgradable to 1 Gigabit as well as to projects based on wholesale-only models.
  • The Company only invests in what is referred to as “greenfield” projects. These projects are defined as investments carried out by “start-up” companies or companies that have an asset base which is small compared to the cumulative investments planned for new assets.
  • Eligible projects deploy “state of the art technology” which means a technology, or a mix of technologies, whose performance features are comparable to the best-performing commercially available technologies.
  • The projects are deployed predominantly in underserved areas, which would be typically classified as grey NGA (i.e. only one NGA network exists or is planned) and white NGA areas (no NGA network exists), for state aid purposes.
  • An investment by the Fund will not exceed € 50 million for one project.

Visit cebfund.eu for more information

The video was prepared for the launch of the CEBF in 2018