Challenges for a broadband service strategy in rural areas: A Romanian case study

•The level of adoption of broadband in Romania and broadband service strategies in the European context are determined.•The Romanian profile of rural broadband user and low levels of customer satisfaction are identified.•The rural user profile more interested in data transfer than voice or video applications is revealed.•Customized local-loop solutions based on the determined rural user profile and the NBS are recommended.

Broadband network deployment plays an important part in the strategic policies in Europe to promote growth and innovation in all sectors of the economy in addition to social and territorial cohesion. In compliance with existing community policies, Romanian strategies in this field seek to provide the necessary support for broadband connectivity in rural areas. The goal of this study is to define a rural end-user profile to plan the most appropriate broadband service strategy from both a technical and a marketing perspective. Our empirical research involves an exploratory survey conducted in rural areas in northwestern Romania (n=1040 respondents). The findings reveal low levels of customer satisfaction and users more interested in data transfer than voice or video applications. Given this rural user profile, simulations of network traffic were conducted. The simulation results suggest that WLANs are the most suitable solution for the “last mile” broadband segment.