Background and organisation

What is the Broadband Council?

In March 2010, the Government decided to set up a Broadband Council within the Government Offices of Sweden to promote the deployment of broadband throughout Sweden.

The Broadband Council will be an important meeting place, an arena for dialogue and collaboration between the Government, public authorities and organisations, business and undertakings that operate in the Swedish broadband market.

The aim is to identify constructive solutions that aid increased collaboration and deployment of broadband to achieve the targets set out in the Government’s Broadband Strategy. The work of the Broadband Council will include identifying obstacles to broadband deployment and then actively working to eliminate these obstacles.

The Broadband Council is part of the implementation of the Government’s Broadband Strategy. The overall objective of this strategy is that Sweden will have world-class broadband, which means that 90 per cent of all households and businesses should have access to broadband at a rate of at least 100 Mbps by 2020. Furthermore, all households and businesses should have good opportunities to use electronic public services and other services via broadband.

How has the Broadband Council been organised?

Steering Group and working groups

The Broadband Council has a Steering Group. The chair of the Steering Group is Åsa Torstensson, the Minister for Communications, who appoints members of the board.

The Steering Group will identify areas for action and set up working groups. Each working group will focus on one particular prioritised operational or other material issue.

Administrative Office

There is also an Administrative Office at the Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) that supports the work of the Broadband Council.

The Broadband Council Administrative Office is an autonomous unit placed structurally under the Director-General of PTS. The Administrative Office reports to the Government Offices of Sweden (the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications) as regards substantive issues, results and budgets.