TÜV Rheinland Launches First Broadband Atlas for all of Europe

Broadband experts make Internet speeds transparent

The interactive map was developed by an interdisciplinary team of experts at TÜV Rheinland over the last three years. The "Broadband and intelligent networks" team conducted stakeholder management workshops with the relevant ministries during the project period, held conferences with telecommunications companies in the member states and held ongoing consultations with the respective broadband offices in the European countries. The result shows a uniform procedure for the preparation and visualization of the supply data. This method, known as service mapping, bundles the data from the member states, allowing for the creation of an interactive map created based on a geoinformation database. The expert team continues to be in contact with public and private data providers from all member states and is establishing a Europe-wide stakeholder management to coordinate and mobilize all information and contacts.

Uniform data visualization

Throughout the project, emphasis is placed on the standardization of data collection and processing. Christiane Lehmann, project manager for the EU broadband atlas at TÜV Rheinland says, "The aim of the project is to achieve good comparability of the data. To this end, we have divided the data we collected into different quality levels and evaluated and processed them accordingly. The European broadband atlas is characterized above all by its target group orientation.” A highlight are the different portals: The public view allows filtering according to the methods of data collection. Broadband coverage in countries with comparable methods is presented as a group of countries. If the data collection methods are not easily comparable, the data are presented at country or private provider level. In addition, depending on the level of authorization, users can access an expert view and a data collection view. These enable the user to export data and graphics from the portal in order to gain more precise information about the local broadband expansion.

Networking success factor for sustainable Europe

The European Broadband Atlas is part of the "Digital Agenda for Europe" and "Connectivity for a European Gigabit Society" work programs. Networking is a decisive success factor for a sustainable Europe. The current concern of the EU Commission is to ensure that all European households have an Internet connection with up to 100 Mbit/s by 2025. "The European Broadband Atlas will help us to identify more quickly and accurately where there is a need for regional investment. This makes the European broadband atlas an important tool for the ongoing digital transformation in Europe," adds Lehmann.

The European Broadband Atlas is the central information medium for current broadband coverage in Europe. Learn more at: www.broadband-mapping.eu