European Commission plans ambitious €100bn fiber project

The EU Commission is looking to attract investment of €100bn to be spent on rolling out fiber broadband across Europe.

The European Parliament and the EU’s Council of Ministers is considering a proposal from the European Commission for an ambitious project, worth up to €100bn ($140bn), to fund the rollout of fiber broadband and associated services across the EU. The Commission has proposed to spend €9.2bn from 2014 to 2020, to give EU citizens and business access to broadband speeds of 100Mbps. However, this initial €9.2bn will be used to attract additional investment to a total of between €50bn and €100bn, with each Euro spent expected to attract another private investment of between €6 and €15, according to the Commission. The additional funding would come via innovative financing tools and the purchase of high-value blue chip bonds. A blue chip bond is one that is well-established, financially sound, and historically secure. Blue chip companies are known for their strong executive management teams that make intelligent growth decisions, and for their high-quality products and services.