Brussels, 26/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - European consumers are not on a level playing field when it comes to broadband. Their geographical area can have a significant impact on prices, speed, and range of choice of broadband. Despite the successive reforms carried out by the European Union to unite the digital market, the sector continues to function on the basis of 28 different national markets. This is the observation made by the European Commission. On 25 March, the Commission published its conclusions following the examination of four recent studies - the Broadband Internet Access Costs (BIAC), @SamKnows, a Eurobarometer survey and a communications committee report. The Commission concludes that there is virtually no pattern or coherence in broadband markets across the EU. Consumers are also baffled by the varying information provided by operators, limiting their ability to make the choice that best suits them. European Commissioner for the Digital Strategy Neelie Kroes said: “There is no single market for internet and that has to change. There is no good reason why one person should pay over 4 times more than another in Europe for the same broadband”.
The Commission has highlighted the following: 1) Prices for the most common broadband connections can be up to four times higher in some member states, even after purchasing power is taken into account; 2) Consumer information: 66% of people do not know what internet speed they have signed up for; 3) Speed: Consumers only get 75% of the broadband speed they sign up for, on average (sometimes only 64%).
There is up to 400% price difference between EU countries in advertised broadband offers in the 12-30 Megabits per second (Mbps) category of fixed broadband that most Europeans subscribe to. Prices range from €10 to €46 per month, depending on where you live, and could be as high as €140 per month. The cheapest advertised broadband is available in Lithuania (from €10.30), Romania (from €11.20) and Latvia (from €14.60); in other countries, the lowest available offer can be as high as €46.20 (Cyprus), with Spain (€38.70) and Ireland (€31.40) not far behind. The biggest domestic price range is in Poland, with offers ranging from €20 up to €140, and Croatia - from €30 up to €121. While some differences between markets can be explained by different underlying costs and incomes, the Commission says that much of today's inconsistency is due to persistent market fragmentation.
The Commission points out that the proposal for a “Connected Continent”, which the European Parliament is due to approve next week during its plenary session, will help overcome these price differences by giving greater power to consumers and a friendlier environment for investors across the EU single market, allowing efficient operators to sell their services to consumers in other countries. The Commission has indicated that one of the four studies, @SamKnows, will run until end 2014 and one more annual measurement is planned. European consumers can measure their own ISPs performance by joining a community of volunteers across all EU28 countries plus Iceland and Norway. (IL)