Danish Government Setting Ambitious Broadband Goal

In the digital society of the future, all citizens and businesses should have access to high-speed broadband – no matter where they live in Denmark. As a consequence, the Government is now setting itself the goal that all people in Denmark should have access to at least 100 Mbit/s by 2020.

So far it has been the Government's objective that access to broadband at 512 kbit/s should be available to everyone by 2010. So the new objective is 200 times faster than the existing one.

Except for Luxembourg, the objective of 100 Mbit/s for all is the most ambitious one within the EU and will place Denmark ahead of our neighbouring countries Norway, Sweden and Germany.

– The new broadband objective will ensure that Denmark still has an infrastructure ranking among the best in the world. This is the foundation for creating growth and jobs. At the same time, it is a cornerstone for being a citizen in digital Denmark that there is consistency between broadband capacity, the services offered on the network, and the population's IT skills, says Charlotte Sahl-Madsen, Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation.

The goal is to be achieved by continuing the market-based and technology-neutral approach that has worked successfully so far.

– We will of course continue to build on the principles that broadband rollout in Denmark should be market-based and technology-neutral. To ensure that we reach our objective, there might for instance be specific requirements for coverage in future frequency auctions. This aims to ensure that the whole country gets access to ultra-fast broadband, says Science Minister Charlotte Sahl-Madsen.

The Government will regularly evaluate developments in this field and initiate any efforts needed to enable all households and enterprises to have high-speed broadband by 2020.

For questions, please contact Communications Manager Anders Frandsen, phone +45 40 75 33 24, e-mail .