The EU commission has opened up a new debate about the availability of broadband throughout the EU with a target of 2010 for all EU citizens to have access to broadband. The commission has also aired concern about the low take-up in countries such as Ireland where the figure is just 17% against the EU average of 20%. So what are the options open to the EU commission?
While no definitive move has yet been agreed the commission is looking into the idea of formulating basic level service obligations on EU telecoms to ensure that each EU citizen will have access to broadband sooner rather than later. There are concerns that the telecoms are concentrating on the more lucrative markets while cutting out many rural areas.
The argument from the telecoms is the fact that until today there has been no state assistance with regards to the cost of implementing and laying down the latest broadband networks, so they need to work on an income driven business model. This seems to be at odds with the EU commission’s way of thinking and it looks very much as though we are headed for a long and controversial debate.