TELECOMMUNICATIONS : ADDITIONAL GERMAN AID FOR BROADBAND CLEARED.

The European Commission approved, on 7 November, an aid package of 45 million to encourage the availability of widespread and affordable broadband services in the three German Lander of Saxony, Lower Saxony and Bavaria. The aid targets areas where this type of service is not yet available. It comes on top of a federal scheme in the amount of 141 million, authorised in 2008, for the development of broadband in rural parts of Germany.

These regional aid schemes are expected to provide additional impetus to increase broadband coverage in these regions. Saxony, Lower Saxony and Bavaria have designed their own measures, taking into account local characteristics and fully incorporating all safeguards already requested by the European Commission in the federal broadband scheme.

SCHEMES OFFER GUARANTEE

The schemes offer a guarantee that public funding will only be used if no electronic...