County of Västernorrland Sweden

Charlie Wallin

Facts• 7 municipalities• Population 244 000• Inhabitants/km2 = 11,2• 2 Provinces• 74% of the area is Forests

Broadband in Västernorrland

Total funding ca 41 M euro.

Structural funds, government, municipalities and private funding

Municipalities makes priorities - IT-Infrastructure Plan

Municipalities have made purchase of suppliers (operators)

•

Broadbandcoverage in municipalities71-95% (100%)

Why not 100% coverage?

Still blind spots in coverage. Low or negative ROI for investments in some rural

areas – despite investment support Lack of demand in some areas. Technical limitations in some areas –

limited number of access points.

ICT-maturity by individuals

• 70% has access to Internet at home, 29% for those over 65 years.

• 35% has > 2 Mbps• 50% use it more than

6 hours a week• 29% have visited a

municipality website

ICT-maturity in business

• Access to Internet 95%

• 70% of those with access has > 2 Mbps

• Selling over Internet 42%

• 65% purchase products over Internet

• 69% have made online payments

• Only 24% with CRM-databases

Consistent politics

• Broadband financing

• Staff computer reform

• Computer training centres for unemployed

• A regional vision

Public sector in the frontline

1. Pave the way

2. Be a good example

3. Offer simple tools and impartial advice

4. Projects supporting the development

Next step• Development of Regional ICT Strategy (started).• Evaluation of investments in broadband – spring 2007. • Further investments in broadband – rural areas.

– Challenges – WiMax, 3G?– Very high marginal cost for access to certain households.

• Connections to other County broadband networks.• More co-operation between municipalities.

An attractive rural lifestyle with good ICT-access and modern

transport infrastructure.