Universal service won't extend to broadband or mobiles

That's according to a European Commission review of the Universal Service Directive, published today. It is the same law that requires BT to continue maintaining over 64,000, largely unprofitable public phone boxes in the UK, notwithstanding the ubiquity of mobile phones.

The Commission says stakeholders have endorsed its own view that there is at present no need to extend the universal service safety net to mobile and broadband internet services.

Consumers already have widespread affordable access to mobile communications within their home countries, and so far only a minority has high-speed internet connections. So the cost of extending universal service obligations to these services would exceed benefits to users, according to the Commission.

The report, which will be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council, reviews the scope of EU universal service rules, and summarises replies to a public consultation based on a Commission Communication of 24th May 2005 on the same subject.

Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said bringing mobile and broadband internet services to users is best left to the market – except where structural problems such as geographical remoteness justify specific public investment "to help bridge the broadband gap."

But an update is required, she said, and this year’s review of the EU’s electronic communications rules "will give the opportunity to look at provision of universal service in an IP world."

The public consultation on universal service received 76 contributions, the largest number coming from the UK. Governments, regulatory authorities, consumer groups, disability groups, private citizens, operators, service providers, manufacturers and other businesses and organisations took part.

Many contributors observed that mandating any specific technology in a fast-changing technological landscape would be problematic, and that any extension of the scope of universal service and its financing would risk deterring competition, hindering investment and stifling innovation.

While consumer organisations specialising in electronic communications supported the Commission’s conclusions, a number of consumer and other organisations felt that the review criteria of the Universal Service Directive or the Commission’s assessment were too restrictive. They advocated extending the scope of universal service to mobile and/or broadband services. The Commission decided in March to take account of some of the remaining concerns by its "Broadband for all Policy".

Some contributors raised additional questions, such as concerns about quality of service and unjustifiably high international roaming charges. Some comments also related to other user rights and interests in communications such as access to emergency services (which is covered by a specific provision in the Universal Service Directive). All these issues are outside the focus of this review of the Universal Service Directive. However, the Commission says the contributions will provide input for the policy debate in the context of the general regulatory review in 2006.