DENMARK: BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT INITIATIVES

UNCLAS COPENHAGEN 000166 STATE FOR EEB/CIP/BAC - TIM FINTON COMMERCE FOR DOC/ITA/OTEC - ANDREW BENNET FCC FOR ROBERT TANNER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECPS ECON DA SUBJECT: DENMARK: BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT INITIATIVES REF: STATE 27310 ¶1. The Danish government has not put forward an economic stimulus package. If and when such a package is announced, we suspect that it will not include funding for increased broadband deployment initiatives because, according to the Danish National IT and Telecom Agency, broadband is already available to more than 99 percent of all Danish households and companies through ADSL, Fiber or WiMAX. The government is teaming up with the private sector to meet the government's stated goal of providing broadband access to Denmark's remaining 21,000 non-served households (many of which are located on small, remote islands) by the end of ¶2010. The bulk of broadband infrastructure is owned by TDC, Denmark's formerly state-owned telecommunications provider that went private in the 1990s. American private equity firms KKR and the Blackstone Group reportedly hold significant ownership interests in TDC. ¶2. The World Economic Forum's "Networked Readiness Index" rankings for 2008-09 list Denmark as the world's most networked economy for the third consecutive year. The Forum's report notes that Denmark has rates of 64.3 internet users per 100 and 114.7 mobile telephones per 100 in population in 2007, and internet bandwidth of 346.0 mB/s per 10,000 in population in 2006. The report also comments that Denmark's outstanding level of networked readiness results from the country's regulatory environment, coupled with clear government leadership and vision in leveraging ICT (Information & Communication Technology) for growth and promoting ICT penetration and usage. McCulley