Three questions for Kajsa Frisell

Broadband Data storage Digital participation Digital infrastructure Telecoms

Hello Kajsa. In recent weeks you have spoken at two of the telecom industry's biggest events, Terminsstart Telekom and Bredbandsbåten.

Kajsa Frisell, Industry Policy Expert, IT&Telecom Industries

What were you talking about?

Terminstart Telekom is organized by Telekomnyheterna, a newsletter about the telecom industry, and mainly brings together decision-makers in the industry. I was invited to talk about what we think will be required to achieve the previous government's broadband goals, and what we expect from the new government.

The Broadband Boat, organized by the Swedish Urban Network Association, focuses entirely on broadband issues, although this year there was a lot of talk about digitalization in general. The event mainly brings together representatives of municipalities and companies that own or run local broadband networks. Under the heading "How difficult can it be?" I talked, among other things, about how municipalities, by allowing alternative and more cost-effective methods than traditional digging, can help to achieve broadband goals faster.

What are the most important issues for you right now?

Recently, of course, the political situation before and after the election has been in focus, and now we know that Mehmet Kaplan (MP) is the new IT minister with main responsibility for "our" issues. We sincerely hope that digitization issues will have a broad political impact and that the new IT minister will take responsibility for ensuring that they are coordinated in the best possible way between the various ministries.

Another issue that is important to us is to pave the way for the expansion of the digital infrastructure. Having a future-proof digital infrastructure in place is a basic prerequisite for the digitalization of society. But achieving the set goals requires both dialog and collaboration between the public sector and the industry. Our member companies are very committed to this issue because it is actually about the conditions for them to operate in the market.

What do I do as a member if I want to get involved?

For members interested in everything from digital infrastructure to telecom regulation, there is the Communications Council. We work to identify issues that we in the industry feel the need to work together on. We invite interesting speakers from ministries, authorities and companies to our meetings. Just contact me if you are interested in joining us!