Over half a million people in rural areas will hopefully get broadband via the new aid in Landsbygdsprogrammet.Men situation is chaotic. Conditions have changed, and regulations and IT systems is delayed.
New central government investment in fiber-to door in rural areas is almost two years late.
– Not a cent has so far been paid out of the investment of 3.25 billion kronor fiber connections in the rural development program.
The notes Mikael Sleman, project manager for IT at the County Administrative Board in Östergötland. He looks with great concern the situation of the new government broadband support in the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, the Board of Agriculture is responsible.
– It is very messy.
The distribution of aid is assessed in the spring to start in autumn 2015. But even today, no aid is granted. Several people who Ny Teknik have talked to says that it depends on both the delays and the changing conditions in the rules governing the assessments.
– It is difficult for broadband unions awaits. They are very committed and obviously frustrated that nothing happens, says Anneli Alsterlind, broadband officer at the County Administrative Board in Värmland.
Last week, when some 30 officers at the country’s county administrative boards, which handles applications, held telephone conference revealed several shortcomings in the Board of Agriculture’s new IT system, which is under development.
For example, as late applications are not visible or additions to the applications until January / February next year. Additionally, expected to feature, through which you will be able to seek payment for their expenses, finish first in the spring.
In the autumn negative opinion also Competition Authority Agriculture’s Regulations on how the stakeholders may procure the roll-out of fiber. They were not considered to be in line with EU state aid rules, and will from now on. Before they are finalized and implemented in the new IT systems are also no funding decisions are taken.
So far, the village communities, municipalities and companies sought government funding for around 800 fiber projects. The investment costs for these amounts to over 7 billion, and these contributions are 3.25 billion. It is expected to provide over half a million more Swedes in sparsely populated areas broadband connections with high transmission capacity.
But delays of technology is not the only problem . The county administrative boards New Technology spoken with regret also the Agriculture Department calculation models.
– The overriding problem is that regionally may not do any of your own assessments of these projects. Since it often concerns large and complex projects with unique conditions layup, as I see it, completely unsustainable, says Mikael example Sleman in Östergötland.
In the beginning could localities with fewer than 3,000 residents seeking assistance. But in April, revised SBA conditions after the National Post and Telecom Agency, PTS, made a market.
Now villages with fewer than 200 residents and where the distance between houses is less than 200 meters, seek grants. In Dalarna disappeared thus – like overnight – the possibility for 20 percent of the projects that had applied until April.
This got Maria Norrfalk, the then Governor of Dalarna, in May write a protest letter to Agriculture’s Director General Leif Denneberg, with a copy to the Minister for Rural Affairs Sven-Erik Bucht (S). Even in Värmland responded to.
– Very many small towns, for example in northern Värmland, now falling off, says broadband officer Anneli Alsterlind the Administrative Board Värmland.
– We should get opportunities to adapt projects to local needs as we see it.
According to Jörgen Fransson, who is responsible for broadband support at the Board of Agriculture, the agency has no choice. Regional exceptions may be made.
– The government has pointed out that we must follow PTS’s assessments of where market participants can build without government support under EU state aid rules, he said.
His colleague Tomas Nilsson, project manager for the agency new IT systems, mean that delays not due to technical problems but on the latest political decisions.
In the meantime, government grants have been some village communities chosen to order the fiber at your own risk . But they may be without support, because the village communities compete against each other and among other things will get points after the acceptance level.
– We are now seeing some weird geographical divisions so that only those property owners who wish to join are included in a defined area, says Mikael Sleman.
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