High quality broadband connectivity for all is central to the European Union’s Digital Single Market objectives. Yet the concept of high quality universal broadband and its relationship to a universal service obligation which includes broadband is ill-defined. In this Insight we set out an economically rational approach for defining and funding universal broadband. This highlights the danger of setting overambitious quality requirements and the need to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach to universal broadband across all member states.