Always something

Expectations were high. On Tuesday, it would come - the answer that many of us had been waiting for. Would the Broadband Forum be given an extended mandate and be able to continue to be a meeting place and forum for dialogue and collaboration between authorities, organizations and companies after the end of December 2020? Now, when the most challenging part of the broadband rollout remains and collaboration is therefore needed most.

And, yes. We did get some kind of message when our Minister for Digitization visited Telekomnyheternas webinar Telekomstudion. In addition to telling us that he makes a different analysis of the broadband situation than many others and that he thinks that the government's own authority PTS's data is weak, he announced that the Broadband Forum will remain. At least for another year. It is certainly gratifying that there will be an extension and possibly one could see it as a sign that the Minister has great confidence in the capacity of the Broadband Forum. But I still think that many people share my view that it will probably take much longer than a year to expand so that the whole country has access to fast broadband. In the budget bill, the government has also allocated money for broadband support in an initiative over five years with the aim of accelerating the expansion in rural areas.

So - let's hope that the Minister will have better ideas in the future and see the importance of the Broadband Forum as a collaboration platform for achieving the broadband goals even after 2021. and let's hope for news of further extensions in the future. But the answer today was - yes, for one year. Always something said the optimist.

My Bergdahl

Industrial policy expert

Open letter to Anders Ygeman - Broadband Forum crucial for the continued broadband rollout