Technologies and Architectures for Broadband Digital Divide Elimination

The provision of high speed connectivity to all citizens has been broadly accepted in the developed world, as one of the key elements for growth and innovation. Europe 2020 Strategy underlines the importance of the deployment of new network infrastructure, required for the provision of new innovative services, while in parallel sets ambitious targets in relation to the penetration of high speed broadband connectivity 
among European Citizens. In this paper, we examine the current situation, if broadband Digital Divide still exists, and propose a new paradigm for interconnecting rural areas and particularly islands complex. A techno-economic model has been developed for exploring the necessity of public aid funding or other cost 
sharing measure for the deployment of new fiber-optic transport networks.