How to set up a
Broadband Competence Office
What is a BCO? Broadband Competence Offices are single points of contact providing guidance and advice on broadband investment. Their objective is to support stakeholders in their country or region on accelerating broadband roll out. BCOs should be able to address the key areas of legal, technical and financial support that project promoters and policy makers might need.
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Who can be supported by a BCO? • Ministries or other authorities in charge of planning and implementation of Next Generation Access Network strategies. • Municipalities and public bodies (local, regional and national) responsible for the funding and the roll-out of broadband. • Project promoters, telecom operators, utilities, user groups and any other entity that looks for guidance about the planning and execution of broadband projects using a variety of business and investment models and financing structures. • Citizens, enterprises and other bodies that wish to be informed about broadband developments, national or regional plans for broadband connectivity, and available EU support in their area.
Why
have a BCO? Technology, legislation and funding opportunities evolve quickly in the area of broadband. Furthermore, in many Member States broadband competence is split between different administrations. These are just two of the reasons why investors and other interested parties may find it challenging to get answers and guidance on their broadband deployment plans. In the 2007-2013 programming period, some of the EU Funds dedicated to broadband were not used. The main hurdles were around State aid, procurement, project planning and technological issues. BCOs should help by working with all stakeholders to overcome these hurdles so that the €6 billion allocated through structural and investment EU Funds have the greatest possible impacts. In its communication, Towards a European Gigabit Society, DG CONNECT lays out some of the objectives ahead. The BCOs network will be instrumental in achieving these new targets. Most municipalities or other stakeholders will only invest once in Next Generation Access networks. Therefore the skills and knowledge cannot easily be acquired at local level. The BCO should be there to act as support structure to these stakeholders. Broadband is a highly regulated sector. The procurement and State aid issues are linked to financial and technical considerations, and in most administrations the expertise in those areas is scattered. The challenge is to bring these fields of expertise together under the BCOs.
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Objectives
Accelerate roll-out for broadband infrastructure
of BCOs
Facilitate coordination between different funding sources
Contribute to drafting and implementation of NGA plans and strengthen administrations
Enhance broadband investments in rural areas
Aggregate bottom-up demand for high-speed broadband
Broadband Competence Offices in the field While fixed broadband is currently available to 97% of EU homes, service remains fragmented in some Member States. Although in 2017 the NGA coverage increased to 40% in Europe's rural areas, they are still at a disadvantage. Achieving universal NGA coverage is an EU priority. In accordance with the subsidiarity principle each Member State will decide whether and how they wish to establish their BCOs. In other words, BCOs may be established at national or a regional level, or in a hybrid structure. There is also a possibility to establish BCOs to cover a cluster of regions.
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BCOs should generate and share knowledge on : Funding
Regulatory issues
In many countries, responsibility for fund management and broadband roll-out lie with different actors. The BCOs should bring these areas of expertise together. Funding opportunities are offered by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EARDF), the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), and other dedicated financial instruments. The Connecting Europe Broadband Fund, an investment fund for broadband network infrastructures, is an initiative of the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB). These tools, combined with national, regional or private funds, aim to accelerate broadband investment. The BCOs could work as mediators to guarantee the best possible use of these funding opportunities.
BCOs help in identifying regulatory frameworks such as those related to public procurement, EU State aid rules, telecom regulations and the Directive 2014/61/EU on measures to reduce the cost of deploying high-speed electronic communications networks.
Technological issues Although broadband support should be technology neutral, many investors are faced with uncertainty regarding the technology mix that they can use. The BCOs might be able to provide clarification and guidance on this. This issue will become even more relevant as the EU moves from the universal connectivity objectives towards quality criteria for networks linked to the Gigabit Society.
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Best Practice exchange Many good projects and programmes have been implemented in Europe. BCOs should share these best practices so that future investors can benefit from the lessons learned.
Project planning Many countries report shortcomings in existing broadband atlases. The BCOs should be able to advise on how to improve mapping as it is an essential building block in all broadband support schemes. The BCOs could add value to project planning in the fields of design and monitoring, the stimulation and aggregation of bottomup demand for high speed broadband, business selection, investment models and financing structures, and broadband mapping methodologies and tools.
CHECKLIST OF ACTIVITIES FOR SETTING UP A BCO Ascertain the objectives of the country or region’s broadband policy Identify who the leading administration for broadband in your country or region is
Gather information on broadband deployment status
Set up an office with expertise on regulations, finance and technical issues on broadband Identify the key broadband stakeholders and multipliers in your country
Aggregate the demand on broadband Identify the EU funds and the financial tools that could be used and provide guidance on alternative funding models, including blended and debt based schemes Organise training sessions for public and private stakeholders Provide guidance on regulatory frameworks such as those related to public procurement, State aid rules, and the Cost Reduction Directive Facilitate project design, selection of business and investment models Support project planning and monitoring, notably through the use of IT resources (e.g. mapping tools) practical knowledge available locally as well as at European level Each BCO should take into account the NGA plan of their country. For more information see the Broadband Guidelines.
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Acknowledgements : Authors and layout : Broadband Competence Offices Support Facility More information is available on : http://ec.europa.eu/broadband The information and views stated in this brochure are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Neither the European Union institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained herein.
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BROADBAND COMPETENCE OFFICES SUPPORT FACILITY The BCO-SF is a European Commission funded project aiming to contribute to the implementation of the EU Digital Agenda targets on broadband roll-out. It provides information and guidance to national and regional stakeholders in charge of broadband deployment, and promotes the establishment of new BCOs in European Member States. The BCO-SF was created in January 2017, and works with DG for Agriculture and Rural Development, DG for Communications Networks, Content and Technology and DG for Regional and Urban Policy.
CONTACT US :
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info@broadbandeurope.eu 0032 (0) 22820918 https://ec.europa.eu/broadband @broadband_eu