The i2010 Perspective:
i2010 aims to ensure that the legislation impacting on converging sectors provides the legal certainty needed for firms to innovate.
EU-led regulation liberalised Europe’s telecommunications sector in the 1990s, creating growth and driving prices down.
The 2003 electronic communications framework created a level playing field for a converging world. Regulation is seen as temporary, needed only until normal market conditions develop, and is applied regardless of the technology, stimulating innovation. By creating a consistent market across Europe, it will give operators the confidence to build on a scale which only a market of 27 Member States and half a billion consumers can provide.
The regulatory framework is currently being updated to make sure that these rules are even more effective and futureproof, especially as markets and services continue to evolve. The update will give special attention to radio spectrum, stimulating growth in all sectors which use this resource, including wireless communications, satellite observations, digital TV and more.
Finally, the Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS) Directive updates Europe’s broadcasting rules. It covers TV and TV-like services (such as video on demand, mobile TV etc.) across the EU and aims to stimulate the European broadcasting industry and protect consumers.
Snapshot: Cheaper Phone Calls from Home and Abroad
2005: DG Information Society and Media creates Europe’s ".eu" internet domain
Thanks to the competition the Commission unleashed on Europe’s telecoms sector, call costs have plunged and innovative products and services have appeared. EU-led standardisation and research also created the GSM standard, boosting European leadership in this thriving sector and driving mobile call costs down.
Except for when you go abroad, as anyone who has come home to a staggering mobile phone bill can attest. Which is the European Commission decided to bring competition to an uncompetitive market, introducing regulation to bring down these unjustifiably high ‘roaming’ charges. Thanks to the Commission’s new ‘Eurotariff’, since summer 2007, travellers finally benefit from lower prices when using their mobile phone abroad
more: Roaming web site & Factsheet (PDF) 
Snapshot: Television for the 21st Century
High definition TV, television over broadband internet and mobile phones, digital, interactive and on-demand TV ... Europe’s audiovisual sector is changing faster than ever before.
European regulation must change with it. The Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS) Directive has therefore modernised Europe’s 1989 ‘TV Without Frontiers’ regulation to reflect the convergence of communication networks, media, services and devices.
The updated legal framework will stimulate competition and increase consumer choice,while protecting Europe’s rich cultural diversity. The resulting legal and economic certainty will stimulate growth in Europe’s audiovisual sector and prepare it for the challenges ahead. Meanwhile, our research programme continues to develop new technologies in the field of interactive broadcasting and beyond.