As announced by the European Commission, a record amount of state aid for the deployment of broadband was authorised during the year 2010. In total, the Commission adopted a record number of 20 decisions covering aid for broadband development in, among others, Catalonia, Finland and Bavaria. In so doing the Commission takes one more step towards the objective to increase Internet access in all EU areas as set out in the EU 2020 strategy.

The European Commission has approved in 2010, under the EU guidelines for state aid to broadband, the use of over 1.8 billion euro public funds for broadband development to support economic recovery, inclusive growth and the long term competitiveness of the EU. It is expected that these investments will boost public and private investments in the areas concerned, generating up to 3.5 billion euro of investments in the sector.

These authorisations are in line with Commission's ambitious targets for broadband development set in its EU 2020 strategy, as well as in the Digital Agenda and further clarified the possible use of public funds in this sector in the Broadband Communication. In its determined support to provide Europe with fast and ultra-fast broadband, the European Commission understands that these objectives can only be achieved with an adequate combination of public and private funds that will generate the necessary investments, especially in those areas where commercial operators would not make these inverstments.

Adequate and affordable broadband services are essential to bring economic development and social benefits, especially for people living and working in rural and remote areas. When assessing public support to broadband networks, the Commission makes sure public support does not crowd out private investment and allows alternative operators to get effective and non-discriminatory access to the subsidised broadband infrastructures, thereby increasing the choice and quality of the services available to citizens.

The approach has ensured that broadband networks are built in areas where nothing was available before and are made accessible to competing Internet service providers on non discriminatory terms. Thereby, state aid helps households and companies in rural areas to benefit from state-of-the-art similar services at similar prices as those established in urban areas.

Besides national funding, for the 2007-2013 financing period of the EU Structural Funds, a total of 2.3 billion euro was allocated to broadband infrastructure investments and 12.9 billion euro to information society services; and a further 360 million euro through the Fund for Rural Development was used for broadband funding.