1. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 The SFERA FP7 project results: Providing support & guidance to European regions Andreia Moreira | Antonio Alfaro innovacion@telecomclm.es Improving the Deployment of Innovative Broadband Networks in European Regions

2. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 SFERA: The Project SFERASFERA is a two-year action intended to assist European Regions on opportunities to make optimum use of Structural Funds for the deployment of innovative Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) networks of the future, and R&D infrastructures S tructural F unds E uropean R egional A dvancement

3. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 SFERA: The Consortium TELECOM CASTILLA-LA MANCHA - Spain ARIES - Romania ASTER - Italy ASTRIUM - France BASSCOM - Bulgaria IVSZ - Hungary ROSE VISION - Spain SES-ASTRA - Luxembourg

4. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 SFERA: Mission & Goals SFERA bridge the digital divide SFERA aims at assisting Member States and Regions in the efficient use of Structural Funds for innovative ICTs that can bridge the digital divide of underserved areas

5. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Agenda The Structural Funds (SFs) The Broadband situation: Past, present and Future SFERA project: main outcomes The Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)

6. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 The Framework Programme Research: 7th Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration activities (FP7) FP7 with a total budget of over € 50 billion for the period 2007-2013 is the EU instrument specifically targeted at supporting research and development. It provides funding to co-finance research, technological development and demonstration projects based on competitive calls and independent peer review of project proposals. Support is available for collaborative and individual research projects as well as for the development of research skills and capacity. Since the 1980s, the successive Research Framework Programmes have played a lead role in multidisciplinary research and cooperative trans-national R&D activities in Europe and beyond.

7. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Agenda The Structural Funds (SFs) The Broadband situation: Past, present and Future SFERA project: main outcomes The Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)

8. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Cohesion Funding 2007-2013 Cohesion Funding 2007-2013 Total Budget: € 347 billion

9. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Cohesion Policy: Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund (SF) The purpose of the Structural Funds (European Regional Development Fund – ERDF and European Social Fund - ESF) and the Cohesion Fund is to strengthen economic, social and territorial cohesion by reducing disparities in the level of development among regions and Member States. Each region or Member State has developed, in discussion with the Commission and in partnership with all relevant private and public stakeholders, operational programmes that cover the entire programming period 2007- 2013. Many thematic areas are supported by the Structural Funds, including research, innovation and enterprise for which EU funding in the period 2007-2013 will be above € 86 billion. The allocation of funds in a given Member State or region varies according to its level of development. However, most regions will have some funding available from the Structural Funds in support of Research, Technological Development and Innovation (RTDI). Unlike FP7 and CIP, the management of the Structural Funds is decentralised to regional or national bodies.

10. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 ICT in the Community: Strategic Guidelines for Cohesion Ensure availability of ICT infrastructure where the market fails to provide it at an affordable cost, especially in remote and rural areas and in new Member States.

11. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Agenda The Structural Funds (SFs) The Broadband situation: Past, present and Future SFERA project: main outcomes The Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)

12. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Digital divide in the Past ADSL in Seseña

13. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Present and future (I) Forecasts for Spain (report issued by the Spanish Telecommunications Commission) recently concluded that… –After the commercial-technical analysis performed in Spain, it is expected that a “market-driven” broadband network development would end in a new (and even deeper) digital divide by 2020. –Depending on the scenario: What by 2020 will be considered broadband, will only be available for less than 50% of Spanish citizens –Which is our future in rural regions? More “Seseña cases” than before? Is there any way to overcome this severe problem that threatens our future?

14. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Present and future (III) Areas with potential market interest where broadband is expected in 2020 My town… is not interesting and will not have broadband

15. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Present and future (II)

16. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Present and future (IV) Best scenario Worst scenario High coverage. Incumbent operatorHigh coverage. alternative operator Low coverage. Incumbent operatorLow coverage. alternative operator >60% >50% >40% >30%

17. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Present and future (V) A purely market-driven model threatens to leave tens of millions of European citizens on a permanent digital divide. Therefore provoking a major economical and social divide among urban and rural regions in Europe and provoking a clear and unjustified discrimination. Fortunately, there are ways in which this future can be avoided Hybrid terrestrial/satellite solutions represent a technical and economical feasible option to quickly connect wide areas with low population density where other operators will not find interest from a market perspective.

18. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Agenda The Structural Funds (SFs) The Broadband situation: Past, present and Future SFERA project: Main outcomes The Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)

19. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Analysis of use cases. The rural broadband extension Creation (and support) of the ICT Structural Funds Council Analysis of Regional Strategies in Structural Funds Programming Benchmarking analysis: ICT in the Regions

20. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Benchmarking analysis: ICTs in the Regions

21. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Hungary Romania Analysis of previous successful European projects and initiatives Identification of indicators to define a methodology Regional Benchmarking analysis comparing Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania regional indicators against Emilia Romagna region Bulgaria

22. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Main results of the benchmarking analysis 1.Identification of a set of Technical, Economical and Regulatory indicators at National and Regional level: 2. Identification National/Regional stakeholders responsible for the regulation and the development of ICT technical infrastructures for each target country: 16 for Italy 14 for Hungary 10 for Bulgaria 14 for Romania Technical indicators: 20 at national level, 12 at regional level (local initiatives) Economical indicators: 2 at national level, 3 at regional level, 5 at regional level Regulatory indicators: 4 at national level WP1 activities have highlighted the need to launch initiatives to collect regional data for ICT indicators: To better categorize the underserved regions To make a better use of the structural funds for the development of telecommunication network suitable especially for convergence countries.

23. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Analysis of use cases. The rural broadband extension Creation (and support) of the ICT Structural Funds Council Analysis of Regional Strategies in Structural Funds Programming Benchmarking analysis: ICT in the Regions

24. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Analysis of Regional Strategies in Structural Funds Programming

25. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Analysis of Regional Strategies in Structural Funds Programming Review of Structural Funds regional strategies and Operational Programmes Focusing on development objectives that could require use of ICT technologies, particularly broadband access, networks infrastructures and services, satellite technologies and applications Help regions in accessing the latest opportunities (1B€ released by DG AGRI) Targeted Regions: SFERA participating countries (France, Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary): convergence and competitiveness regions Interregional programmes (INTERREG): cross border, transnational, inter-regional programmes

26. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Case study: Broadband for education in rural and remote areas (Romania) Case study: Wireless terrestrial in cities’ outer skirts through WiMAX (Bulgaria) Case study: satellite hybrid networks used in Hungary for e-health applications Main results of the regional analysis Structural Funds rules investigated in 6 countries highlighting different approaches in regional development 20 Operational Programmes analyzed with respect to the potential use of ICT/future network/future Internet solutions in regional strategies Identifying and defining relevant case studies to put into practice actions for coordinating ICT RDI and Regional Development Elaborating roadmap for case study implementation in cooperation with the authorities of Region or group of Regions selected Case study: the usage of satellite communications coupled with wireless for environmental monitoring (Italy) Case study: deploying the hybrid wireless technologies to provide broadband access in rural areas (Spain) Case study: fostering the deployment of a DTT satellite-based network to assure 100% coverage for remote rural regions (Spain)

27. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Analysis of use cases. The rural broadband extension Creation (and support) of the ICT Structural Funds Council Analysis of Regional Strategies in Structural Funds Programming Benchmarking analysis: ICT in the Regions

28. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Analysis of use cases. The rural broadband extension Overview and best- of analysis on the state-of-the-art technologies and integration scenarios for successfully bridging the Digital Divide in rural underserved areas of Europe

29. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Main results of the analysis of use cases Provide a complete overview on the state- of-the-art technologies and business cases for successfully bridging the Digital Divide in rural underserved areas of Europe. Launch an innovative data collection: “Broadband Atlas”. The prototype shows in an interactive graphical map system the state of the digital divide in EU regions.

30. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009

31. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Regional business cases: the rural broadband extension SFERA has identified business case scenarios for new innovative broadband services. The business cases describe opportunities for successfully bridging the Digital Divide in rural underserved areas. These scenarios have been developed for Hungary, Italy, Romania and Bulgaria focusing analysis on target groups, technologies and impacts.

32. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Hungary > Bács-Kiskun County > Bugac plain Bulgaria > Gorna Bela Rechka village Italy > Emilia-Romagna region

33. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Analysis of use cases. The rural broadband extension Creation (and support) of the ICT Structural Funds Council Analysis of Regional Strategies in Structural Funds Programming Benchmarking analysis: ICT in the Regions

34. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 United Kingdom Spain Slovenia Romania Portugal Poland Netherlands Luxembourg Italy Hungary Greece Germany France Finland Czech Republic Bulgaria Belgium Austria The SF-ICT Council was officially launched in July 2008 After one year and some months the Council has… More than 100 participants from: –associations, –industry & operators, –research institutions, –universities, –regional entities The SF-ICT Council was officially launched in July 2008 After one year and some months the Council has… More than 100 participants from: –associations, –industry & operators, –research institutions, –universities, –regional entities Strategic agenda and key objectives for the development of the ICT in Regions by a efficient use of Structural Funds Recommendations on positive policies for supporting the development of ICT in regions Position papers about demand aggregation, state aid, SF management process, best practices to support ICT RTD, among others Strategic agenda and key objectives for the development of the ICT in Regions by a efficient use of Structural Funds Recommendations on positive policies for supporting the development of ICT in regions Position papers about demand aggregation, state aid, SF management process, best practices to support ICT RTD, among others

35. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Creation (and support) of the ICT Structural Funds Council 100 members

36. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 After 2 years, what where SFERA main contributions? Creation of the ICT Structural Funds Council: Advice on the definition of policies, objectives and strategic plans Creation of the ICT Structural Funds Council: Advice on the definition of policies, objectives and strategic plans Learn from the best practices: Selection of case studies and business scenarios that provide information on basic and innovative services and efficient use of SFs for ICTs (maintaining neutrality among networks and technologies). Recommend hybrid terrestrial/satellite solutions as an economically viable option to quickly connect wide areas of territory and to offer democratic access to broadband communications to a large number of users. Provide decision support tools and help RAs in: Being updated with the latest technology developments and having a clear vision on possible solutions implemented or ready to be implemented

37. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Some of the SFERA supporters

38. 09/10/2009SFERA Annual Conference 2009 Some points to remember and challenges for the future The EC is determined to bridge the ‘broadband gap’, but there is still a long way to go through to reach the goal of a 100% coverage of broadband internet! Regional Authorities play a crucial role on SF concerning ICT infrastructure investments and BB services and need to be updated on: The most adequate solutions – ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL In-depth evaluation of different technological solutions proposed and financing alternatives available While more developed regions keep moving faster through their continuous innovation efforts, the underserved areas keep being left behind their. 1 2 3