EU to invest in broadband

digital, energy and transport networks, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs over the next few years, The Guardian writes.

The European Commission scheme envisages the use of bonds backed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to fill funding gaps left by cash-strapped governments and leverage up private investment.

According to TMCnet, the plan is partly aimed at stimulating further investment in rural broadband, which would then put pressure on service providers to match those speeds in urban areas.

In some ways, the effort can be compared to the 'broadband stimulus' funding in the US market, possibly similar in some ways to the GigU initiative. GigU will attempt to build 1Gbps networks around universities, and then hopefully stimulate new applications that can create consumer demand and revenue for new applications.

Calculator.co.uk states that the European Commission has estimated that investing in new high-speed broadband networks could create approximately one million jobs in Germany alone before 2020, and the creation of a new fibre-to-home network in France could generate an additional 350 000 jobs each year.

The Commission has also stated that the development of a smarter infrastructure may require more than EUR1.5 trillion to be invested in trans-European transportation networks, telecommunication and data-related technologies, as well as energy production and conservation methods.