Brussels, 28/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - ECTA, the European Competitive Telecommunications Association, has welcomed measures proposed by the European Commission in order to rationalise the cost of deploying broadband throughout European territory. About 70% of all “fibre-to-the-home” investments (FTTH - the last portion of fibre linked to the subscriber) in Europe are made by alternative operators, underlined ECTA President Tom Ruhan. “Reducing those costs would speed up the deployment of open networks and the provision of competitive communication services to businesses and consumers”, he said. The Vodafone group also welcomed the Commission's proposal. A spokesman for the group, Alessandro Gropelli, said: “We welcome the Commission's proposals which are pragmatic and urgently needed if Europeans are to benefit from widely available and competitive next-generation mobile and fixed broadband networks”. ETNO, which represents the interests of the traditional incumbent operators, also applauded the measures, saying however that they should be accompanied by other reforms (see EUROPE 10815). The Commission, we recall, suggested new rules on 26 March in order to reduce the cost of deployment of high-speed internet by about 30%. (IL/transl.jl)