The idea is to stimulate demand for broadband communications as well as passenger and goods transportation, and to tap into new markets. The backdrop to this unconventional co-operation is the fact that many mountain regions struggle to maintain the provision of public services. For instance the closure of local post offices is under discussion in many localities. And yet in most cases the problem is not a lack of infrastructure, but a lack of demand. The project hopes to preserve the provision of basic services by generating more demand.
The co-operation with eBay has already been successfully tested in sparsely populated regions of Germany. Surselva is now the first Swiss region to take part in this co-operation venture. Implementation gets underway at the end of March 2007.
Source: Montagna - Die Zeitschrift für das Berggebiet 3/2007 (de/it/fr)