Introducing the Finalists of the European Broadband Awards 2018

Introducing the ﬁnalists of the European Broadband Awards 2018

Find out the nominees of the European Broadband Awards 2018 that made a diﬀerence! The expert jury has selected 15 ﬁnalists and the winners will be honoured on the 19th of November at the Award ceremony in Brussels.

European Commission

The ﬁnalists of the European Broadband Awards 2018

A jury of ﬁve broadband experts assessed the project applications and selected the following ﬁnalists:

Category 1: Innovative models of ﬁnancing, business and investment

Broadband initiative of the District of Calw, Germany Michaelston-y-Fedw Internet Community Interest Company, UK Superfast internet for all homes and businesses in the rural area of Noordoostpolder, Netherlands

Category 2: Cost reduction and co-investment in a future proof infrastructure

Aller Valley, Asturias – FTTH Network in a rural area, Spain FTTx Broadband in Region Lower Lusatia - Lusatian Lake District – Brandenburg, Germany Welcoming Sunne to the Network of the Future, Sweden

Category 3: Territorial cohesion in rural and remote areas Croatian Multi Gigabit Islands – Examples of Rab and Cres, Croatia PEBA Basque Country - Ultrafast broadband services extension in areas of economic activity and rural zones, Spain Poland enters gigabit society, Poland

Category 4: Socio-economic impact and aﬀordability

Broadband for "Mand-ø" – Connecting the UNESCO world heritage “Wadden Sea”, Denmark EmiliaRomagnaWiFi, Italy Support for broadband infrastructure (stage II) - PRIP2, Lithuania

Category 5: Openness and competition

Fibre optic network in the village Ilvesjoen, Finland Next Generation Networks for rural territories, Latvia Val d'Oise Ultra-Fast Broadband Project carried through 2 public initiative networks (PIN): Debitex and Vortex, France

The highest number of applications came from Denmark, Germany and Spain. The majority of projects applied in category 3 “Territorial cohesion in rural and remote areas”. The winners of the European Broadband Awards 2018 (one per category) will be honoured in a special ceremony in the evening of the 19th of November in Brussels.

The European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Mariya Gabriel will host the ceremony. Commissioner Hogan (Agriculture & Rural Development) will also hand out awards. The next day (20 November 2018) at the Broadband Day: Mind the Broadband Gap Conference, the winners will also feature in a panel, sharing their experience as best practices in Europe.

In 2018-2019, the projects will be featured on DG CONNECT webpages, in newsletters and conferences that will be displayed in the good practice database of “Broadband Europe” website.