12 development of the digital single market. Therefore, more attention should be paid to crossborder cooperation within the EU Structural Funds’ planning period of 2014 - 2020. ● in the planning period of 2007 –2013 the Internet access infrastructure established within the framework of the project “Broadband Communication Infrastructure Development in Rural Areas” financed by the ERDF is not able to ensure the use of ICT corresponding to the constantly increasing requirements in households, enterprises and institutions, because the use of new equipment (smartphones, tablet PCs, etc.) and new electronic communication services (for example, cloud computing, three-dimensional (3D) and high resolution television) cause a considerable increase in the amount of transferable information in electronic communications networks. Appropriate use, quality and safety of the electronic communications services will only be ensured for users by the next generation broadband electronic communications network. Thereby, development of the broadband network is started – the middle mile or transport network development project, within the framework of the first round of which it is planned to build approximately 1900 km of optical cable routes and establish 165 optical network access points. According to the order of the Ministry of Transport in 2011 research11 was conducted, within the framework of which electronic communications merchants and local governments were surveyed. It was stated that in 363 territorial units (parishes and regions consisting of one parish), i.e. in 71.2% of the territorial units of Latvia, none of the electronic communications merchants provide, nor plan to provide Internet access services with improved data transmission parameters during the next three years by providing data transmission services of improved quality and with a speed of at least 30 Mbit/s (according to the Digital Agenda for Europe for all Europeans by 2020 and 100 Mbit/s for at least 50% of European households)12 (see Picture 1 ““the white” NGA areas”). Picture 1 11 Consultation material about the infrastructure development project of the optical transport network (“the middle mile”) of electronic communications http://www.sam.gov.lv/satmin/content/?cat=451&art_id=2384 12 Digital Agenda for Europe, 26 August, 2010 COM(2010)245 information_society_development_guidelines_2014_2020.docx; Information Society Development Guidelines 2014-2020