Government support can provide important impulses for broadband expansion. How to use this support most effectively and how to plan interventions for target areas was the subject of the meeting of the BCO thematic group “Mapping and Step Change” on 26 September in Brussels.
The Broadband Competence Offices (BCO) network exchanged information about the mapping of broadband services, existing infrastructures and demand for investments. The visualization of data on a map contributes significantly to facilitating planning processes, saving development costs through the creation of synergies, and making decisions about the use of state aid. Using examples of data collection, verification and visualization from Member States, participants discussed the need for accurate data collection and verification of the spatial distribution of state aid.
The network meeting provided an opportunity for national broadband competence centers to present their data collection and mapping solutions and learn from each other. In this context, member states face the challenge of collecting and presenting accurate and reliable data. Often, there are hurdles and limiting factors that make consistent presentation difficult, such as missing legal obligations of the data holder or data protection regulations in the countries. However, private investment and government interventions can only be planned based on a precise presentation of broadband availability. These data are therefore essential for achieving the ambitious expansion goals of the European Gigabit Society.
Mapping broadband in the EU
An important strategic action taken by the European Commission to support this objective is the development of an interactive mapping application that enables the cartographic visualization of the broadband quality of service (QoS) for all EU and EEA Member States. This centralized information platform is powered by existing data from national public authorities as well as private crowdsourcing initiatives (a variety of different data sources).
European countries have different approaches to mapping broadband services. The data differ in terms of the intention of the mapping initiatives, the method approaches, and the values collected. Moreover, it is difficult to find a common basis for the spatial resolution of heterogeneous data sets. The BCO network meeting has now helped to create a common understanding of methodology that results in better comparability of mapping initiatives at a European level.
Examples from member states
In the first part (service mapping), the mapping platform from Italy was presented by Aldo Milan from the Italian Communications Guarantee Agency. The representative of the Greek regulator, Ioannis Koukoutsidis, presented the benefits of crowdsourcing initiatives, i.e. the acquisition of data from a variety of sources, including time savings and the availability of more up-to-date broadband data.
The second session focused on the concept of infrastructure mapping. The presentation of the Polish approach was interesting: Marcin Kwaczynski of the National Authority for Electronic Communications reported that by law, market participants in Poland face penalties if they neglect to supply relevant data on broadband availability. The importance of reliable data verification and reliable reprocessing was highlighted by Laurent Toustou, representative of the French regulator. These include also so-called field checks.
The public sector needs geo-information systems
Precise data is the basis for suitable investment planning. The visualization of data in geo-information systems facilitates analyses, decisions and planning processes of the public sector. In this context, the Directorates General Communication Networks, Content and Technologies and Competition presented the “step change” principle in the third part of investment mapping. The European Commission’s state aid rules foresee the use of public funds to invest in broadband networks if these investments result in significant improvements to existing networks (a so-called “step change”).
The mapping initiatives of the European Member States can be found on the respective country profiles of the European Commission websites.
Background
The BCO network consists of the broadband competence centers of the European Member States. The European Commission initiates and supports the provision of a European network of Broadband Competence Offices (BCOs), thereby contributing to the objectives of the Digital Single Market 2020 and the Gigabit Society. BCOs inform citizens and businesses and provide the local and regional authorities with technical means to invest efficiently in broadband. As a national broadband competence center, the Federal Broadband Office is the central point of contact for German stakeholders and regularly participates in network meetings, workshops and thematic groups.
The aconium GmbH is responsible for the Federal Broadband Bureau and operates it as a competence center of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) and as a national BCO. The aconium GmbH supports the Directorate-General for Communication Networks, Content and Technologies (DG Connect) in the management and maintenance of the European broadband portal Broadband Europe.
Photo: The BCO network thematic group meeting “Mapping and Step Change” took place in Brussels, 26 September 2018.
Credit: BCO Support Facility