Brussels, 29/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - According to a study published by the European Commission on 28 February, e-communications are crucially important to any action taken to build a digital single market. Completion of the digital single market could see EU gross domestic product (GDP) grow by up to €110 billion a year, or more than 0.8% of GDP. This “digital bonus” for EU growth would result from more competition, increased economies of scale for telecom operators, and the chance for every European to access all online content and services throughout the EU, such as music, movies and video games. According to Neelie Kroes, EU Commissioner for the Digital Agenda: “We are wealthier and more competitive because of our single market. But it is not a true single market if the internet and other telecoms are excluded. The digital single market is coffee for the economy, we'd be mad not to drink it.”
According to the Commission, liberalisation of the telecommunications sector has been a great success but there is still a long way to go with regard to developing the internal telecommunications market. The “Steps towards a truly Internal Market for e-Communications” study focuses on the reasons why many European telecommunications operators are not managing to penetrate other European markets where retail prices are higher than on their own national markets. The study points to the fact that in the coming years demand for band width will continue to increase. The drivers of growth will be online services such as films and games (which will evolve from High Definition to technologies such as 3D, e-Health or e-Learning). These services require guaranteed quality of service. This requires pan-European standards, since what might work in one member state may not be possible in another. The study maps out a number of strategic measures the Commission could take in the next two years to help complete a genuine e-communications single market. It suggests three main types of policy measures to tackle obstacles: reduced regulatory fragmentation (e.g. common rules on contract duration and transparency of bills); more European standardisation (to allow pan-European services of assured quality to emerge in areas such as e-Health, e-Energy, e-Mobility) and the need for more coordination of the activities of national telecoms regulators at EU level.
Investigating the cost of non-Europe in the telecoms market is a key objective of the Digital Agenda for Europe. The Commission will hold a public workshop in May to receive stakeholders' suggestions on how to act on the issues raised in this study. (IL/transl.fl)