Brussels, 19/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - Broadband could become a reality for the whole of Europe, to the benefit of growth in the Union and citizen services. The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), presented by the European Commission on Wednesday 19 October, provides for €9.2 billion to be earmarked over 2014-2020 for projects in the field of digital infrastructure (see related articles). “In this time of crisis, we must focus our efforts on sectors which can drive growth. Information and Communication Technology has this potential. Benefitting innovation through new products, new services and new business models. Benefitting businesses, big and small, through improved productivity and flexible working. And benefitting citizens, giving them new ways not just to shop or socialise but to learn, receive healthcare, or interact with their governments”, Neelie Kroes, European Digital Agenda Commissioner, said with enthusiasm.
The major interest of the new contribution in “fresh money” is that it will allow potential investors to be encouraged to promote broadband connections. European funds allocated to the CEF should allow additional means to be raised from both public and private sectors, strengthening credibility of projects and reducing their risk profile. The Commission and international financial institutions, such as the European Investment Bank, would absorb part of the risk, thus improving the credit rating attributed to projects.
The Commission considers that the sum of €9.2 billion could give rise to public and private investment amounting to a total of between €50-100 billion, i.e. a major part of the €270 billion investment needed to attain the broadband targets set by the Digital Agenda.
Access to broadband is synonymous with a gain in productivity for business, for example, through teleworking, the speeding up of administrative procedures, and a reduction in overheads, with software solutions for storage, for example.
Investment in debit and high-debit infrastructure networks would immediately stimulate employment in the building and related equipments sectors.
High debit also directly concerns citizens as it is can provide solutions to societal problems such as transport congestion, for example. In terms of health, broadband offers possibilities for remote diagnosis and the management of electronic medical dossiers.
Welcoming the fact that the funds available can also serve digital public services, Kroes said that “by ensuring systems can talk to each other, and avoiding fragmentation, we can best serve the needs of an increasingly mobile population”. (MD/transl.jl)