The road to becoming a rural broadband provider Koen Salemink and Dirk Strijker University of Groningen 16th Rural Entrepreneurship Conference 13-15 June 2018 Plymouth, UK

Initiative in action

New questions Long-term research into rural broadband initiatives Community initiatives, LAGs ‘ORI’ Officially Recognized Initiative Rural broadband provider?

Changing categories Community initiatives, LAGs Community action? Officially Recognized Initiative Rural broadband provider Community action? Social entrepreneurship? Commercial entrepreneurship? Commercial enterprising?

The ‘national’ debate

8 Stages of Rural Broadband Incentive Familiarization Demand inventory Campaigning Deman bundling Tendering and contracting Construction Management and maintenance …

Concerns regarding initiatives Durability and sustainability of initiatives Academic concerns Impact on wellbeing and liveability Governmental concerns Are citizens able to deliver what they promised? Are they able to do it in the way the government wants them to?

Lessons from three cases Sterk Midden-Drenthe, ECO Oostermoer Verbindt, Coöperatie Steendam Lessons from three cases

From community action… Rural broadband initiatives fit in the wider debate on citizens’ initiatives Key persons’ motives for starting the initiative ‘Doing good for the community’ Initially a good fit ‘Community champions’ needed to create ‘community buzz’ Campaigning for rural broadband

…to running a business Funders require accountability and business rationale Not straightforward Key persons are not motivated to run a business ‘Doing good for the community’ instead of running a commercial business Self-reflective leaders ‘Now that we’ve finished the initiative, others should run “the business”’ Exception: Sterk Midden-Drenthe

Challenges and Tensions Successors are hard to find Technological and financial knowledge Few volunteers in rural areas (Potential) Tensions Goals of initiative – Goals of business Founders – Successors Board – Members (cooperative)

Concluding remarks Concerns seem valid Durability and sustainability are under pressure Government support for sustaining the initiatives seems necessary National market players not interested But: problematic relation initiatives – governments Government: funder, regulator and assessor Difficult for initiatives to be openly self-reflective 3. Founders of initiatives as ‘necessity entrepreneurs’? Or: from ‘opportunity social entrepreneurs’ to ‘necessity commercial entrepreneurs’?