A € 50 million voucher system to support the use of broadband services with download speeds of at least 100 megabits per second in Greece has been approved by the European Commission, in line with EU state aid rules.
ΌAccording to the relevant announcement, the goal of the Greek authorities is to increase the number of consumers who use "high-speed broadband services", which are defined by Greece as broadband services that provide download speeds of at least 100 Megabit per second (Mbps), with the possibility of easy upgrade at 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps).
There is already infrastructure suitable for the provision of these broadband services in Greece, but their usage rate is very low. The coupons will support the greater use of these services by covering part of the installation costs and the monthly fee for a period of up to 24 months. Users will be able to activate the coupons until March 31, 2020.
Greece has submitted the support measure for evaluation by the Commission in accordance with the State aid rules. The Commission found that, despite the fact that the system is mainly aimed at consumers, it constitutes State aid in favor of telecommunications service providers, who will be able to provide these services through the existing broadband infrastructure. The Commission therefore assessed the measure in accordance with the State aid rules, in particular under Article 107 (3) (c) TFEU.
The Commission has taken care that Greece takes the appropriate measures to avoid any undue distortion of competition, and in particular will check that the system is not used merely to replace existing subscriptions to other high-speed broadband services.
The system will be accompanied by a detailed evaluation to assess its impact. The results of this evaluation will be submitted to the Commission by Greece by December 2021.
On this basis, the Commission concluded that the system is in line with EU state aid rules and that it contributes to the EU's strategic objectives set out in the Digital Agenda for Europe and in the Communication Towards a European Gigabit society ”.
According to European Commissioner for Competition Margaret Vestijier: "The Greek high-speed broadband project aims to increase the number of consumers using high-speed broadband services. The coupon system will increase the number of people using higher speed broadband services in areas where there is adequate infrastructure, but which is not used enough. The system will contribute to bridging the digital divide that has existed for many years in Greece, in line with the objectives of the EU digital single market, while ensuring that competition is not unduly distorted. "
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