📋 Tender Overview
The European Commission has approved under EU State aid rules a 12 million Cypriot voucher scheme made available in part through the Recovery and Resilience Facility RRF to help households access high-speed broadband services. The scheme is aimed at fostering the digitalisation of the country and will also contribute to the EUs strategic objectives relating to the digital transition.The Cypriot schemeThe scheme which will run until 30 June 2025 will be partially funded via the RRF following the Commissions positive assessment of the Cypriot Recovery and Resilience Plan and its adoption by the Council. The scheme supports the take-up of broadband services over the existing infrastructure ensuring a wide availability of high-speed broadband services to citizens.Under the scheme the aid will take the form of vouchers to households not having a subscription to a connection providing at least 100 megabits per second Mbps download speed. The scheme will cover part of the set-up costs and the first 12 months of subscription to broadband services providing at least 200 Mbps download speeds.The scheme will benefit approximately 82000 households. All broadband service providers capable of providing the eligible services will be eligible under the measure.The Commissions assessmentThe Commission assessed the scheme under EU State aid rules in particular Article 1073c of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which allows Member States to support the development of certain economic activities or of certain economic areas under certain conditions.The Commission found thatThe scheme is necessary to address a market failure namely the slow take-up of eligible broadband services by households in Cyprus. Even though networks able to provide the high-speed broadband services are widely available in Cyprus and despite households growing needs for performant connectivity data shows that the take-up of such services by Cypriot households continues to be relatively low.The measure has an incentive effect since connectivity and access to broadband services would not be facilitated to the same extent in the absence of public support.The scheme has sufficient safeguards to ensure that undue distortions of competition are limited and that the aid does not have undue negative effects on competition and trade in the EU. In particular the measure is proportionate as it is limited to the minimum necessary and in time. In addition the scheme is technologically neutral ensuring equal treatment of broadband services providers capable of providing the eligible services. Furthermore the measure covers part of the costs of subscribing to new high-speed connections or of upgrading existing connections.Cyprus carried out a market assessment and a public consultation that show that the design of the measure prevents conferring a disproportionate advantage on one or more specific service providers to the detriment of others also in the light of the wholesale access obligations provided by the relevant national regulation.On this basis the Commission approved the Cypriot scheme under EU State aid rules.
