The Gigabit infrastructure Act (GIA) is central to the European Union’s strategy for universal high-speed digital connectivity, as disparities in access – especially between urban and rural areas – persist. In the sparsely populated Nordic-Baltic region, the GIA holds particular promise: it can help close long-standing digital divides in rural, remote and cross-border communities, thereby unlocking regional development, economic revitalisation and digital inclusion.

While the GIA removes barriers and accelerates deployment, it does not require Member States to directly invest in broadband infrastructure. Instead, it obliges authorities to create a streamlined, transparent and coordinated regulatory environment that enables more efficient private-sector rollout. However, in a time of heightened geopolitical sensitivities and insecurities, the GIA’s ambitions for transparency, accelerated rollout and market-driven expansion must be reconciled with (cyber)security imperatives, such as those set out in the NIS2 Directive.

This brief explores how the countries of the Nordic-Baltic region can balance these objectives to deliver secure, future-proof and regionally inclusive connectivity.