Brussels, 19/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - The commissioner for the digital economy and society, Günther Oettinger, met network operators and other stakeholders on Friday 16 January for a roundtable discussion on investment in high-speed broadband. The objective was to discuss how to achieve a faster and more widespread broadband roll-out in Europe with the billions of euro that will be dedicated to the digital economy in European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's €315 billion investment plan. The discussions also focused on the emergence of a more favourable framework for private investors so as to encourage them to make their investments.
Steven Tas, the chairman of the European telecommunications network operators' association (ETNO), took part in the roundtable discussions and approved of the European Commission's conclusions, which recognise the persistence of regulatory barriers to investing in the EU's digital infrastructure. “Today we voiced our support for lighter regulation and more certainty for investors, which will incentivise broadband deployment. This will be to the benefit of citizens and businesses, as better-performing networks will deliver an improved customer experience, more innovative services and a more competitive continent”. Cable Europe, the association representing broadband cable operators, was also at the discussions. It stressed the critical role played by private investment for rolling out broadband infrastructure - especially for upgrading cable networks. In the view of Cable Europe's executive chairman, Matthias Kurth, the EUROPE 2020 targets for the digital sector are proportionate but it is crucial to develop an appropriate regulatory framework to enable investors to continue their investment “Cable operators are playing a major role in rolling out high speed digital networks. Cable has become the main challenger to the telco incumbents in most EU member states, and the massive investments cable operators have devoted to upgrading the networks during the last 10-15 years have resulted in cable leading the charge in terms of new generation network coverage”, Kurth said. Cable Europe states that competition combined with light touch regulation is the key to private investment and technological innovation. (IL)