Per Frey, deputy assistant director of the KMD who is in charge of the Digital North Denmark project Netforum and KMD Netbroker of North Denmark, speaks ardently when asked about the necessity of preparing an actual strategy for the development of the IT infrastructure of North Denmark – or even nationwide.
The enterprises and institutions behind the project are dreaming of a broadband solution covering the entire North Denmark. And we're not talking ISDN nor ADSL with max. transfer rates of 2 Megabit. Oh, no, – ambitions are looking far beyond that:
- If we work out a prioritized plan, we believe that over the next 10 years we will be able to offer 100 Megabit connectivity to all citizens of North Denmark regardless of their location in the region. And of course development doesn't stop there. Because once we have supplied broadband connectivity to all citizens of North Jutland, the country will need a strategy for utilizing it, emphasizes Per Frey.
Among other things the future usage of the broadband network will be attractive to telecom carriers and service providers: Once the broadband network is covering the entire region, the providers will get vast opportunity to join the competition in providing services to enterprises, institutions and private users.

IT infrastructure in Hals
The Netforum and KMD Netbroker of North Denmark are in actual fact two projects working closely together. The Netforum is dealing with the long term developmental strategies for the IT infrastructure. The KMD Netbroker is testing the strategies in collaboration with selected municipalities.
- The KMD Netbroker is working out requirements specifications to define the requirements of a number of municipalities. Right now we are in actual collaboration with four municipalities here in North Jutland. We are started up in Hals, and next in line are Brønderslev, Frederikshavn, and Sæby. But already at this point the KMD Netbroker is making use of the experience made in the North Danish consultancy project for the planning and development of an IT infrastructure in 15-20 municipalities nationwide, explains Per Frey.
At a conference on ”Broadband and the IT Infrastructure”, arranged by the Netforum of North Denmark in April, around 110 participants were listening with great interest to the visions of a governed IT infrastructure. Many of the participants were representing municipalities.
- On a concrete level a number of cities experience their streets and roads being dug up several times because of cable work – and because the various providers have not found out how to get together and coordinate this. This is both too expensive and inconvenient, declares Per Frey.

Interesting Swedish Model
One of the top priorities of the Netforum is to survey and present various proposals for solutions to the organisation and finansing of the new IT-infrastructure in order to make the dreams come true. And here sidelong glances have been cast to Sweden.
- In Sweden the IT infrastructure has been provided for in the public spending budget: Six to eight billion SEK have been allocated for establishing a fine meshed fibre-optics network to cover all Swedish households within 2005. This is both an ambitious and interesting aim in such a big and sparsely populated country. The funding from the Swedish national spending budget will be far from covering the initial expenses – still, this funding is indeed a salt shot as an encouraging signal to other investors. It might be interesting to hear the approach of Helge Sander, the Minister of Science, Technology and Development, to a similar visionary aiming in Denmark, reflects Per Frey.

Price: One Great Belt Bridge
He is estimating that the costs of establishing an IT infrastructure covering the entire country will equal the cost of a Great Belt Bridge – which is 20 billion Danish kroner. Among others the funds should be raised by municipalities, organisations and enterprises sharing an interest in establishing the Information Highway. Per Frey is highly aware that it is imperative for the municipalities to involve themselves in a fair and democratic spreading of the broadband network for the benefit of citizens, enterprises and facilities of the municipality.
- One could turn the situation inside-out: If we do not work out a general plan for establishing an IT infrastructure, the broadband solution wil be considerably more expensive in the first place. Second it would be doubtful if the sparsely populated municipalities would benefit from it at all, points out Per Frey.
By the end of 2003 the Netforum and KMD Netbroker of North Denmark will be concluded as a project under the umbrella of the Digital North Denmark, but Per Frey is hoping that the project partners will be able to continue the work – not least because collaboration has already been initiated with other regional projects dealing with IT infrastructure.