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The broadband sky is clearing

Broadband Digital infrastructure Digitization Telecoms

Yesterday, the Government finally gave the Swedish Transport Administration the task of contributing to broadband expansion in Sweden. A decision that was long awaited by us in the industry.

Yesterday's decision gives hope to broadband Sweden. The government is very clear that the Swedish Transport Administration will promote the implementation of the government's broadband goals and, by November 15, 2018, develop a model for how the construction of broadband in rural areas can take place in the road area of state roads. From the industry's side, we are of course prepared to contribute with both expertise and experience and look forward to an invitation from the Swedish Transport Administration. Hopefully, the challenges I have previously pointed out for broadband expansion will be addressed and solved, given that the Swedish Transport Administration delivers according to the clear and detailed assignment.

I hope that the Swedish Transport Administration's clear promotional mission will have an immediate impact on the organization. The faster, the more broadband will be built. Because there are so many reports from village associations, fiber contractors and member companies that the Swedish Transport Administration is not helping in their efforts to connect Sweden. I hope that the Swedish Transport Administration really delivers on the mission, which we not only have good experiences of. There is no doubt that these measures are required to improve the prognosis of achieving the Government's broadband goals and creating the conditions for digitization throughout the country.

From the IT&Telecom companies' side, we are pleased with the Action Plan for increased quality in 2018 that we signed together with the Swedish Transport Administration. In the plan, we agree that the processing time should be a maximum of three months by the end of the year. Today, the average processing time on the road side is just over four months and on the rail side it is about six months.

It feels extremely good to be able to say, after the last year's work, sometimes in strong headwinds, that the broadband sky finally seems to be clearing. The government, led by Peter Eriksson, has every reason to feel proud of yesterday's decision, which definitely creates the conditions for the digitization of all of Sweden.