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EU: Commission approves €60M in State aid for Austrian broadband project

By  |  August 20, 2019
The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, €60 million (US$66.6 million) of public support for the deployment and maintenance of infrastructure necessary for the roll-out of ultrafast broadband internet in remote rural areas of the Carinthia region in Austria. The beneficiary of the aid is a newly established company owned by the state of Carinthia. Third party service providers will be granted access to the broadband network on equal and non-discriminatory terms.
The public support will enable internet speeds of at least 100 megabits per second (Mbps) for both download and upload in underserved rural areas in Carinthia. These networks can be upgraded to provide download speeds of one Gigabit (1000 Mbps). The Commission assessed the measure under its 2013 Broadband Guidelines and concluded that the measure is in line with EU State aid rules. Indeed, the positive effects of the measure on competition in the Austrian broadband market outweigh any potential negative effects brought about by the State aid.

Full Content: Europa

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