Brussels, 01/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - 2013 will be the “year of broadband”, European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes has stated. She announced a ten-step plan of attack for a single market in broadband and telecommunications at a CERRE (Centre on Regulation in Europe) seminar in Brussels on 30 January. Over the coming months the plan will be unveiled in detail to make the European telecoms market more integrated, coherent and efficient. “When we reviewed the digital agenda at the end of last year, it was clearer than ever to me where the priorities should lie. The overall strategy is the right one: but broadband needs to be at its heart. It's digital oxygen: economic oxygen”, Kroes said.
In July 2012 Kroes presented a strategy to encourage the development of broadband within a suitable regulatory framework (see EUROPE 10654). “We are still consulting BEREC on the detailed draft recommendation, and will soon be consulting member states too. I look forward to their reaction and hope the final recommendation will be ready in July”, she said. In addition, having called in September for a coordinated European approach to the shared use of radio spectrum, Kroes said that she will follow this strategy with an action plan, due in early spring, for wireless technology “because the problem isn't just identifying new frequency bands for broadband: we actually have to use them, and build the supporting infrastructure”. Kroes also wants to achieve economies of scale in rolling out the infrastructure of the new generation networks, and she wants to increase consumer trust in broadband services. She also highlights the new guidelines on state aid for broadband networks which will enable member states to deliver where the market does not, and the need for net neutrality and an internet which is open, dynamic and innovative. Over the next six months, the European Commission will publish a new recommendation on universal service in a digital society, a green paper on connected TV (in March), as well as the important strategy on cybersecurity which will be presented on 7 February (see EUROPE 10776). (IL/transl.fl)