Fuente: © European Union
http://europa.eu.int

State aid: Commission approves €7 million grant to increase broadband availability in mountainous and isolated areas of Alto Adige in Italy

/noticias.info/ The European Commission has approved under the EC Treaty state aid rules a €7 million grant to help bring broadband to areas of Italy in Alto Adige that currently do not have access. The support is aimed at narrowing the gap of access to affordable broadband services between mountainous and urban areas. The Commission found that the public support is justified by the benefits it brings to consumers and by the existence ofe safeguards put in place to preserve competition. This measure complements previous support to broadband in Alto Adige worth €6.9 million which the Commission approved on 10 October 2007.

Commissioner Neelie Kroes commented: “Alto Adige is a charming but mountainous province. I am pleased that European citizens who live in or travel to that area will be able to enjoy advanced communication services on similar terms as urban areas of Italy or the EU."

Connecting rural communities with broadband services in the isolated areas of Alto Adige has proven commercially unattractive because the low population density does not allow network operators to attract enough subscribers to justify their investment on pure market terms. That has resulted in huge differences in broadband availability within Alto Adige itself and with the rest of Italy. With the help of provincial public funds, the measure provides incentives for operators to offer affordable broadband services in Alto Adige where such services are not currently available.

The Commission found that the measure contains sufficient safeguards to ensure that public funding will be limited to what is necessary to attract operators. The choice of the network operator through an open tender would ensure that any aid will be kept to the minimum. Furthermore, open, non-discriminatory wholesale access would allow several broadband service providers to offer competitive services on the new network.

The Commission concluded that the positive effects of the envisaged investment would outweigh any potential distortions of competition it might bring about. The scheme is therefore in line with EU state aid rules, that allow aid to facilitate the development of certain economic activities or areas where such aid does not unduly affect trading conditions between Member States (Article 87(3) (c) of the EC Treaty). Moreover, the scheme is in line with the Commission’s policy to promote widespread and affordable broadband services to all European citizens.

The non-confidential version of the decision will be made available under the case number N250/2008 in the State Aid Register on the DG Competition website once any confidentiality issues have been resolved. New publications of state aid decisions on the internet and in the Official Journal are listed in the State Aid Weekly e-News. notas_de_prensa_archivo