Poland’s Ministry of Digitisation is studying how it can best help the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that wish to offer broadband Internet access. Recently, the ministry met with banking organisations and SME telecom trade groups, to discuss options for financing infrastructure upgrades, including possibilities for European co-financing.
According to a report by the ministry, telecom SMEs find it difficult to finance their plans for broadband infrastructure improvements. The report says that banks called for simpler regulations, which would help shift financing currently only available to mid-sized and larger telecom enterprises to smaller firms.
In August, the ministry will hold workshops for the banking sector, to discuss alternative ways to assess risk and come up with loans accessible to SME telecom companies. “It will be crucial that banks develop policies that finance SMEs, either entirely privately or with the help of EU funds”, the ministry writes.
One concrete outcome of the first meeting is that banks have established direct contact with telecom companies. The ministry hopes that this will already improve the exchange of information.