EU STIMULUS: 11M EUROS FOR SLOVENIAN BROADBAND

UNCLAS LJUBLJANA 000088 SIPDIS EEB/CIP/BA: TIMOTHY C. FINTON; FCC: ROBERT TANNER; DOC/ITA/OTEC: ANDREW BENNETT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ECPS ETRD EINT SI SUBJECT: EU STIMULUS: 11M EUROS FOR SLOVENIAN BROADBAND INTERNET REF: SECSTATE 27310 In response to reftel's request for information on Slovenia's stimulus spending on broadband internet, Slovenia is using EU stimulus funds rather than its own on telecommunications. EU leaders agreed to an EU crisis stimulus package of 5 billion Euros in Brussels on March 20. The package allocates 11 million Euros to Slovenia to develop broadband internet. The European Commission recently suggested that Slovenia should improve its slow internet connections, poor access to internet in the countryside, and the quality of market regulation. The Commission noted that Slovenia has made major progress in the area of fixed broadband internet connection, which increased by 22.6%, but this still only provides fixed broadband internet access to 21% of Slovenia's population. In July 2008, the former government promised that by 2010 everyone in the country would have broadband internet. According to the Brussels agreement, the stimulus money must be used by the end of 2010. FREDEN