EU Plans to Extend “Universal Service” to Broadband
The new Spanish EU Presidency wants to extend universal service requirements to broadband Internet, making it mandatory for member states to make the service available in every corner of their territory.
The European Commission estimates that 70% of the population of the EU’s countryside areas can rely on existing infrastructure to access the Internet via a high-speed connection. The new plans are aimed at improving Web access to bridge the digital divide and are shared by Belgium and Hungary, which take on the EU presidency after Spain.
The initiative assumes the extension of the universal service provision to high-speed Internet. “The presidencies will launch work on the new scope of the universal service in electronic communications and on the incorporation of broadband in the scope of universal service,” reads the draft programme of the EU Council agreed for the next 18 months.
The incumbent telecoms industry remains skeptical about using such means to achieve complete coverage of high-speed Internet, because they question the funding of the plan, that could turn out to be very costly for some – especially Eastern European – states.
The state could directly pay operators to provide the service to all citizens, but such a move would result in high public expenditure, which is particularly unlikely to happen given the current economic climate.
Another way would be to pool operators together to invest in infrastructure, but this is also unlikely due to strong opposition from the industry and many EU states.
One alternative could be to favor high-speed Internet over mobile networks, which already almost cover EU territory in its entirety. Under this scenario, full coverage could be reached at a low cost, but it implies strengthening the capacity of mobile networks, for example by making new radio frequencies available to mobile operators instead of reserving the digital dividend for broadcasters.
Also noteworthy: Next Generation Fund launched (UK).
Source: The European Broadband Portal