The project will implement strategic expansion of broadband in Värmland, where market conditions are lacking. The project involves 3 municipalities of the county’s 16 municipalities and gives 98 companies possible access to broadband with high capacity. In this project, which is the fifth of several, fiber expansion will take place to 19 stretches. All granted routes are specified in appendix attached to the decision. The result of the expansion is a localised/connection network that benefits the small and medium-sized companies in the rural and sparsely populated areas of Torsby, Karlstad and Forshaga, which contribute to their opportunities for development and growth. The planned projects are expected to contribute to the overall vision of Värmland; by 2020, all companies in Värmland must have access to broadband of at least 100 Mbps. The target is defined in Region Värmland’s Broadband Strategy 2013-2020 and in municipal broadband strategies. A better functioning broadband infrastructure benefits the structural transformation of the Värmland industry from commodity-producing heavy industry to a modern industry with higher service content. A higher service content, as well as companies’ participation in global value chains, loosens up the traditional gender division in the labour market, as service and knowledge-intensive activities are also attractive to women (who have a higher level of education than men). Better functioning broadband infrastructure radically increases the possibility for continued entrepreneurship and the establishment of new companies. As many as 31 % of the new Värmland companies are started by women. Women start businesses in sectors with a particularly explicit dependence on well-functioning broadband in sparsely populated areas; trade, local food production, nature, cultural and experience tourism, services and services. Värmland also has a relatively large proportion of environmental technology companies among its SMEs. An important prerequisite for their development is functioning broadband with high capacity, as these companies often work in connection with the larger companies and their global value chains. The project will have contributed to greater equality by evening out the differences in broadband access between urban and rural areas. This gives rural businesses and people equal opportunities to develop along with the environment, which particularly affects people with reduced mobility or other obstacles.