Broadband

Note: eEurope 2005 finished at the end of 2005.

Please note that these pages are archived and no longer updated.

For up to date information, please see the i2010 strategy website.

Widespread and affordable broadband access is essential to realise the potential of the Information Society.

Developing Broadband Policies
National Strategies, European Targets
Other Targets and Activities
Digital Rights Management

Broadband is not simply a faster way to connect to the Internet - it fundamentally changes the way people use the internet. Connections are immediate and large volumes of data can be almost instantly transmitted. The Internet's overall presentation changes, moving from the currently slow, and often user-unfriendly text format, to a fast, colourful system combining still images, video, animations and sound.

A widespread secure broadband infrastructure is essential for the development and delivery of services and applications such as eHealth, eBusiness, eGovernment and eLearning, making broadband crucial to European growth and quality of life in the years ahead. The eEurope 2005 Action Plan set an ambitious target: 'widespread broadband availability and use in the EU by 2005'.

"High-speed connections radically change the use of the Internet - improving its quality and capabilities. In parallel, new communication platforms have emerged, multiplying ways through which people can access broadband and benefit from it."

Erkki Liikanen, 'The European Broadband Strategy' (pdf), December 2002
Developing Broadband Policies

Developing Broadband Policies

Meeting this target is a complex task - broadband availability is affected by many different policies (town and country planning, research policy, taxation, regulation), implemented by administrations ranging from international organisations through to local administrations, as well as the private sector.

Encouraging broadband access is intimately connected to the availability of content - operators will not invest in broadband infrastructure while there is no content to motivate the user to upgrade, while there will be no real push for new applications and content as long as the supporting infrastructure is not adequate.

National Strategies, European Targets

Governments world-wide are increasingly realising that broadband access to the Internet will be central to the economic development of their countries. Wide availability of broadband communication would have a significant impact on their economy, and several EU Member States have started reviewing the situation regarding broadband on their territory.

To stimulate discussion on accelerating broadband deployment in Europe, the Commission held a Broadband Day in Brussels in January 2003. Member States attending this event were given the opportunity to describe the main elements of their current plans, and industry representatives to discuss their experience of barriers to broadband deployment. The Broadband Day showed that a dialogue between stakeholders and public administrations is the best way forward to address the remaining issues. These discussions will continue through a series of workshops in 2003 on issues such as:

the development of innovative broadband content, that took place in July 2003;
regional and local experiences for broadband development in under-served areas which took place on 15 December 2003.

The Commission Communication "Electronic communications: the road to the knowledge economy" (pdf) - reiterated the eEurope 2005 broadband target and called for:

all public administrations to have broadband connections by end 2005;
half of all internet connections to be broadband by 2005.

All Member States have put comprehensive national broadband strategies in place; please see the Commission Communication on Connecting Europe at high speed: National Broadband Strategies : :

See also the Staff Working Paper Annexes of the National Broadband Strategies Communication

The 2003 Spring European Summit endorsed these proposals. A further Action on Broadband can be found Connecting Europe at high speed: recent developments in the sector of electronic communications.

See also Erkki Liikanen, the Press Conference of May 2004: Broadband is taking off (pdf)

"Convergence ... is an important enabler of competition. Governments must encourage competition within and between different platforms, while remaining technologically neutral ... Public support may be needed when the markets don't deliver alone."

Erkki Liikanen, 'The European Broadband Strategy', December 2002 (pdf)

On this new eEurope site, this area will be devoted to broadband and will be developed over time to aid discussion and highlight broadband strategies, activities and results across the Member States. It will also launch benchmarking and other studies to analyse the state of play.

Other Targets and Activities

Other eEurope targets and broadband initiatives include:

Reducing Barriers to Deployment: Rolling out new broadband infrastructure usually means launching significant building projects. The eEurope 2005 Action Plan calls for Member States to ease access to rights-of-way, poles and conduits to facilitate investment, for instance through the removal of legislative barriers;
Competition and Regulation: One basic principle is that investment in broadband will mainly have to come from the private sector. Competition should drive investment, generate innovation and lower prices. The EU's new Electronic Communications Regulatory Framework takes full account of the convergent nature of broadband and makes encouraging investment in infrastructure and promoting innovation explicit objectives for European regulators. See, in particular, the Unbundling the Local Loop Regulation, ensuring competition in the market for Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), one of the key broadband access technologies, and the Framework's Radio Spectrum Policy, to ensure spectrum availability for, and efficient spectrum use by, wireless broadband services (e.g. W-LANs).

Structural Funds: In many rural and remote areas, geographical isolation and low density of population can make the cost of upgrading existing infrastructure to broadband capability unprofitable, at least in the short to medium term. To ensure an Information Society for All Member States are invited to accelerate broadband deployment and ensure greater territorial cohesion through the use of Structural Funds, which enable less favoured areas to come to the forefront of the development of the information society. The Commission issued guidelines on the criteria and modalities for the use of Structural Funds for electronic communications.

New Access Technologies: Another way of ensuring that everyone can access the Information Society is to promote the use of emerging alternative communication platforms such as 'third generation' mobile communications (3G) and digital TV, encouraging the availability of content for these new platforms:
Digital TV switchover: The transition to digital television would be smoothed by greater transparency regarding the 'switchover conditions' in each Member State. eEurope 2005 therefore calls on the Member States to publish their intentions by end 2003, and recommends a platform-neutral approach in all national plans. See "On the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting" - a Commission Communication analysing the state of play and making recommendations for improving transparency;
Multi-platform content: Public authorities in Member States and the private sector should aim to offer their content on different technological platforms, such as interactive digital TV, 3G etc. The Commission intends to support demonstrations and research projects (see the IST, eContent and eTEN programmes), and will identify regulatory obstacles to the use of digital television for interactive services;
Research and New Technologies: The Commission's research activities support all of these activities as they help bring to reality a vision of tomorrow's internet: fast, secure, and available to everyone, anywhere, on a range of devices (see the IST Research Programme: Broadband for All and Bread: Broadband for All).

Broadband

Developing Broadband Policies

National Strategies, European Targets

Other Targets and Activities

Further Reading