Brussels, 18/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - The heads of the 11 leading telecommunication groups in the European Union sent a letter on 17 June to the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, in which they call on the Heads of State and Government in the EU 28 to take a clear and ambitious position in favour of supporting the telecommunications sector in Europe.
During the Summit on 25-26 June, the European Council is expected to develop its position on the issue of the digital economy in the Union, on the basis of the European Commission digital single market strategy, presented on 6 May. A copy of the letter was also sent to the 28 member states, as well as the Vice-President of the Commission, Andrus Ansip and Commissioner Günther Oettinger, in charge of the digital economy.
The operators that have taken a position on this question are: KPN, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Portugal Telecom, Proximus, Swisscom, Telefónica, Telekom Austria, Telecom Italia, Telenor Group and TeliaSonera. They are urging the European Council to: 1) provide political support for the introduction of measures that are likely to help unlock the deployment of broadband in Europe; 2) support for the Commission's digital single market strategy, which underlines the need to invest more in broadband infrastructure and reform the current telecommunications framework; 3) swift follow-up so that the previous recommendations are implemented; 4) provide certainty with regard to the current rules being swiftly implemented in an effort to encourage investment. The co-signatories of the letter explain, “we are convinced that the European institutions and European industry share the same basic objectives: providing Europe with the best opportunities for growth by supporting European citizens and enterprise with intelligent services and highly performing digital infrastructure. The digital single market strategy represents an opportunity that must be envisaged together”. (Isabelle Lamberty)