1. County of Västernorrland Sweden Charlie Wallin

2. Facts 7 municipalities Population 244 000 Inhabitants/km 2 = 11,2 2 Provinces 74% of the area is Forests

3. Broadband in Västernorrland Total funding ca 41 M euro. Structural funds, government, municipalities and private funding Municipalities makes priorities - IT-Infrastructure Plan Municipalities have made purchase of suppliers (operators)

4. Broadbandcoverage in municipalities 71-95% (100%) Why not 100% coverage? Still blind spots in coverage. Low or negative ROI for investments in some rural areas – despite investment support Lack of demand in some areas. Technical limitations in some areas – limited number of access points.

5. ICT-maturity by individuals 70% has access to Internet at home, 29% for those over 65 years. 35% has > 2 Mbps 50% use it more than 6 hours a week 29% have visited a municipality website

6. ICT-maturity in business Access to Internet 95% 70% of those with access has > 2 Mbps Selling over Internet 42% 65% purchase products over Internet 69% have made online payments Only 24% with CRM-databases

7. Consistent politics Broadband financing Staff computer reform Computer training centres for unemployed A regional vision

8. Public sector in the frontline 1.Pave the way 2.Be a good example 3.Offer simple tools and impartial advice 4.Projects supporting the development

9. Next step Development of Regional ICT Strategy (started). Evaluation of investments in broadband – spring 2007. Further investments in broadband – rural areas. – Challenges – WiMax, 3G? – Very high marginal cost for access to certain households. Connections to other County broadband networks. More co-operation between municipalities.

10. An attractive rural lifestyle with good ICT-access and modern transport infrastructure.