Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know
The European Commission yesterday launched a drive to bring high-speed broadband internet access to all Europeans. The Commission believes that wide broadband coverage is key to developing growth and jobs in the EU.
A European Commission Communication presented yesterday estimated that the broadband penetration rate at the end of 2005 was 13% of population or about 25% of households, reaching almost 60 million lines throughout the EU.
But it notes that broadband has yet to reach some of the EU’s less-developed areas because of low and uncertain returns on investment. In 2005, broadband was available to about 60% of businesses and households in the remote and rural areas of the EU15, and to more than 90% in the urban areas; but the gap is greater in the new Member States.
Broadband speeds are often lower in the countryside too: rural broadband speeds average less than 512 kbps, whereas urban ones often exceed 1 MBps, permitting the use of rich services.
“Broadband connections must not be limited to the big cities,” said Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media. “If the EU and its 25 Member States make a clever use of all policy instruments, broadband for all Europeans is certainly not out of reach by 2010. But the time to act is now.”
The Commission plans to use EU telecoms legislation, together with structural and rural policy instruments, to boost broadband take-up.
It believes that public/private partnerships are needed to roll out the broadband technology mix that best reflects local needs and makes its benefits affordable.
It wants to use the EU’s structural and rural development to help local authorities to build local services around broadband connections, and state aid policy to ensure that public support from national funds does not distort competition.
The Commission has already approved a number of broadband projects over the past year, finding in several cases that aid was compatible with state aid rules (UK, Spain, Austria, Ireland) or that there was no state aid involved (two decisions in France).
To accelerate the rollout, the Commission has proposed two main strands of action:
- strengthening national broadband strategies, which should set clear targets and reflect regional needs, including a strategic approach to making use of EU and national funding in less-developed or rural areas;
- stepping up the exchange of best practices, in particular by the setting up of a website that will act as a single meeting point for local authorities and industry players to exchange information and gather experience. The Commission will also hold a large “Broadband for all” conference at the start of 2007 to showcase the benefits of broadband services to the rural communities.
