The last Telecoms Council under the Swedish presidency and EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding was a short one. But the meeting in Brussels on 18 December served mainly as a launchpad for the future, post 2010 “‘digital agenda’. The dossier has now been handed to a heavyweight in the current Commission, the current EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, with the priority to extend broadband internet coverage.

EU ministers now have a target: 100% broadband internet coverage by 2013, announced the Swedish Communication Minister Åsa Torstensson. This will be no easy task. According to Eurostat, in 2009, 56% of households in the EU27 had broadband connections compared to 49% in 2008 with huge differences between areas varying from 26% in Bulgaria to 80% in Sweden.

As a result, the Telecoms Council has asked the future Commission to include in its new agenda a proposal for a European strategy for broadband which will help member states identify means of financing broadband networks in Europe and to guarantee diversity of services. At the same time the Commission “should examine ways to reduce the differences in deploying broadband throughout the whole of Europe while ensuring fair and effective competition” and eliminating “barriers to the internal market”.

This means that EU ministers are hoping to go beyond the “telecoms package”, the recent reform of European regulations in this sector having proved to be less ambitious than intended, particularly with regard to the deployment of the new fibre networks which will cost in the region of 300 billion euro. But, things at the moment are not looking good: according to a document prepared by Ms Reding for the new Commission, to which Europoliticsobtained access, the main telecoms operators are currently injecting a mere 3% of their investments into fibre and “new entrants are practically unable to invest”.

The Council also set other targets: sustainable investments in new broadband networks; maintaining the open and decentralised nature of the internet , protection of private data, a high level of competence in new technologies, stimulating research and development in the sector, notably by using “sober energy” technologies that will help Europeans reduce their carbon emissions. Making administration available online so as to reduce bureaucratic red tape is another of the goals that have been set.

«DIGITAL DIVIDEND»

The idea is to use the audiovisual frequencies that will be freed by the transfer from analogue to digital television (by 2012 – the date recommended by the EU) for wireless services such as mobile internet access. In a further series of conclusions, ministers claimed to be ready to facilitate “as far as possible” the harmonisation of the 800MHz band (considered to be the digital dividend) at EU level as requested by the Commission, without, however, being obliged open it to mobile operators.