A fully connected Sweden by 2025 - utopia or achievable goal?

Ensuring that all of Sweden has access to fast broadband is an important prerequisite for strengthening Sweden's competitiveness and creating a more inclusive society. The government's broadband strategy is therefore highly ambitious, with clear targets set for 2020, 2023 and 2025. But will these be achieved? That was the question at Thursday's seminar at IP-Only, where our Association Director Åsa Zetterberg discussed with Minister for Digitalization Anders Ygeman, PTS's Björn Blondell and Maria Stockhaus (M).

"I think we can all recognize that as a society we need to ensure that everyone across the country can access fast and secure broadband. As a country, we cannot afford to create gaps," Åsa said in her speech.

It is a shared responsibility to achieve the goals. The public sector - be it the state, regions or municipalities - has a responsibility to facilitate and promote expansion and to provide support in areas where the economic calculations simply do not add up. The industry has a responsibility to expand and offer customers the opportunity to connect. But we all need to work together to show more clearly the benefits of fast connections so that everyone throughout the country who has the opportunity to connect also chooses to do so.

"For there to be a continued willingness to invest, the industry needs long-term and predictable conditions. There must be clarity about what the possibilities for support will look like - and not just for the next year, but for the foreseeable future," emphasized Åsa Zetterberg. The funding announced for 2021 is welcome and necessary, but a longer-term plan is also needed.