Hiiumaa applying for €2.2 million from state for high-speed internet
Hiiumaa municipality is applying for additional money in the 2021 state budget to develop high speed internet access on the island. A recent survey has shown there is a big need for fast internet and teleworking is growing.
Hiiumaa municipality mayor Hergo Tasuja sent an application to Prime Minister Jüri Ratas and government members on Friday for the allocation of €2.2 million in the 2021 state budget in order to create an opportunity for all those who wish to join the high-speed internet access network in Hiiumaa.
The address is supported by Hiiumaa municipality council and the Association of Hiiumaa Entrepreneurs, the rural municipality of Hiiumaa said.
In 2019-2020, the municipal government in cooperation with the development center, entrepreneurs, village associations and non-governmental organizations conducted a survey to find out how real the need and interest in joining the network to be established is.
Electricity distribution system operator Elektrilevi OÜ which won a public procurement for the construction of the access network infrastructure also collected information simultaneously.
A survey of the people of Hiiumaa showed that the need for high-speed internet is great. As a result of the survey of the rural municipality government, 935 addresses located outside Kardla and small towns were mapped. These are the addresses where the service contract is ready to be concluded immediately after the construction of the access network.
As of July, Elektrilevi plans to create 1,088 connection points in 824 buildings in Hiiumaa. Of these, 429 buildings are located in Kärdla, 74 in Kaina and 18 in Kõrgessaare. Only 303 addresses outside the city and towns in Hiiumaa can join the access network.
According to the rural municipality, the number of residents and teleworking people in Hiiumaa is growing.
Considering the above, the Hiiumaa rural municipality government requests that the Estonian government allocate funds from the 2021 state budget to establish the possibility of joining the access network in Hiiu County for all those who wish to do so.
This means at those addresses that are listed in Elektrilevi's plans today as well as at those addresses that in a survey by the rural municipality government have expressed their readiness to enter into an agreement as soon as the access network reaches the property, the rural municipality said.
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Editor: Helen Wright
