When fiber came to the village...

Have spent a couple of (very rainy) weeks in northwestern Jämtland. And in the absence of sun and heat, much of the activities have been about sitting in the cottage; reading in front of the fireplace and deep dives in various streaming services. And in a part of Sweden where the mobile coverage (at best) spells EDGE, fiber is of course a prerequisite for my cultural entertainment these rainy summer days. But of course it is so much more than that. High-speed broadband enables teleworking (when the nearest major city is about 11 miles away), creates the conditions for tourism (trying to pay by card on a shaky ADSL connection is not the easiest...) and all kinds of business activities for that matter (without broadband, the reopened general store in the neighboring village would have been a memory...). Businesses that generate jobs and enable people to continue living and working in rural areas.

Here, the public sector has an extremely important task to ensure that everyone has access to this vital infrastructure, to enable a vibrant countryside. Today, we have a well-functioning private market with competing players who are expanding and connecting most of our elongated country - and not just in urban areas as it is so often misrepresented. Players who invest big money in more robust networks and who constantly invest in new and faster technology so that we, customers, can have access to a world-class digital infrastructure. Without this deregulated market, we would never have been so far ahead in terms of access and connectivity. A regulated telecoms market would never have achieved this.

But the thing is, today we have a private, deregulated market. Companies that build and operate on a commercial basis. You cannot fully oblige these actors to build where it is not commercially viable. The state has a responsibility here - just as it does when it comes to the maintenance of roads and other physical infrastructure. Not least in light of the fact that digital infrastructure is becoming increasingly critical to society. The technology for e.g. remote health and social care (online physiotherapy, cameras for night-time supervision of the elderly, etc. Technology that enables more people to live at home (my 96-year-old grandmother, who still lives on the farm in the village, could be one of them). But for this technology to be fully utilized, high-speed broadband (fixed or mobile) is needed. To all households. Even to the 10 percent who happen to be geographically outside the 90 percent broadband target set by the government.

In the Jämtland village where I have my roots, there was not enough commercial basis to build out fiber. There were simply too few households. So they took matters into their own hands and formed a village association that, with joint efforts and many enthusiasts, ensured that the fiber came to the village. This would not have been possible without the broadband support provided under the Rural Development Program.

That's all well and good. But what happens in all the villages around our country that, for various reasons, cannot or do not have the opportunity to push for an expansion "on their own"? All these people who live and work there - and who would like to continue to do so! Shouldn't these people be able to take advantage of the public services that are (increasingly) only offered via digital channels? Take the comparison with the physical infrastructure again, with the highways. Would it be ok to put large parts of the responsibility for the maintenance of these on individual village associations? I don't think so. And at a time when digital infrastructure is in many ways more vital than physical infrastructure, this is something that requires greater political focus.

A former minister responsible for IT issues (also a former boss of mine) once said; "the digital infrastructure is an important infrastructure that makes our oblong country a little rounder". A statement that still holds true today. I also believe that the current IT Minister Mehmet Kaplan (MP) is free to take this statement and make it his own. "The Green Party is a party for the countryside, all of Sweden should live", it is said. For this, broadband is needed in every village. In the review and revision of the government's broadband targets that is currently underway, my strong opinion is that we can achieve a 100 percent target of high-speed broadband (fixed or mobile) to all households, provided that the private market is given the best opportunity to operate and that the state ensures access for the last one percent.