Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Internet, Technology

The objective of the project is to link rural areas with the existing network of fiber-optic cables and to guarantee them access to fast internet services.

The European Commission finds that the project complies with the State aid rules as it could not be implemented on the basis of market forces alone and as all operators will be able to use the infrastructure at the same terms.

“I am very happy about Estonia’s fast internet strategy,” said Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner in charge of competition matters Joaquin Almunia.

The EstWin project is a part of the Estonian information society development plan. The project is intended to guarantee 98% of Estonian households, enterprises and institutions fast internet access with the data forwarding speed of at least 100 Mbit/s – even in areas where private investments would not achieve such a coverage in near future. The project is designed to remove the digital divide between urban and rural areas, increase social cohesion and contribute to economic growth.