Village Optical Fibre Network Cooperative of North-Western Kuhmo

A community broadband initiative delivered fast broadband access to hundreds of residents in a sparsely populated region of Kuhmo in eastern Finland.

Full Project description EN PDF icon (895.92 KB)
Project summary: 

A local cooperative benefitted from RDP support to deliver a fibre-optic broadband network to seven villages in north-western Kuhmo. The cooperative achieved buy-in from the wider community through local discussions on the potential benefits.

With the commitment of local people -  who contributed time and machinery - the necessary investment was made in the construction of a fibre-optic network – mainly through earthworks. Simultaneously, negotiations by the cooperative led to the big national operator TeliaSonera being selected as a service provider and the north-western Kuhmo network was successfully connected.

Project results: 
  • Installation of 165 km of optical fibre network offering very fast 100 Mbps Internet and 1 Gbps Intranet data transfer speed.
  • More than 200 of 270 households joined the network.
  • The cooperative’s monthly rate of fast-speed internet connection is only €28 per household.
  • Villagers improved their access to services, rural business and tele-work opportunities.
  • The villagers learned that bottom-up initiatives and taking the future in their own hands can really make a difference.