State Aid for the Deployment of Broadband Networks (Guidelines)

The subsidised deployment of parallel networks damages the profitability of existing networks and thus discourages investors to make new investments. There is a contradiction in the Guidelines between the regulation of mainly national markets and the geographically highly differentiated allocation of State aid. This tension could only be removed if geographically differentiated regulatory obligations were imposed on network operators. Since such a system change is currently unlikely, State aid for the deployment of broadband networks should be rejected.