This the Final report of the study: "Policy Options for the Ubiquitous Internet Society"

The achievements of the Commission’s Information Society and Media policies 2004-2009

Now part of our everyday life, the Internet has become a basic utility for homes and businesses in the same way as electricity or water. Affordable, reliable and secure broadband connectivity is essential to making full use of the services that the Internet offers nowadays.

Mobile network operators are now preparing the fourth generation of mobile communication systems. This transformation of cellular telephone networks into wireless broadband will be based on new technology, called Long Term Evolution (LTE), developed with the support of the EU research programmes.

According to the new OECD Information Technology Outlook, the IT industry is likely to have grown by 4% at most in 2008 compared to the previous year. But with the outlook for the global economy worsening and business and consumer confidence plummeting, growth will remain flat or decline in 2009. The publication mainly focuses on how ICT and broadband are being mainstreamed in trade, investment, household uptake, influencing digital content, and policies. A read-only version of the Report is available here .

In a short space of time, high-speed internet (broadband) has become fundamental to modern economies. It has changed the way we access the internet and how we use it. The European broadband market is developing rapidly and some European countries are world leaders. As the market grows, there is a need to assess the EU's readiness to further the development of broadband access. The new Broadband Performance Index (BPI) benchmarks the overall performance of the Member States on a range of factors, which include speeds, rural coverage, affordability, innovation and other socioeconomic dimensions.

The EU Roaming Regulation, in force as of July 2007, has lowered charges by up to 60% for consumers using their mobile phones abroad. The Regulation applies for roaming voice calls only - ensuring that those prices are not unjustifiably more expensive than at home. Although consumers today are paying significantly less for roaming voice calls, prices for SMS and data roaming services still continue to cost too much. The Commission is therefore working on proposals to ensure that consumers also benefit from a single market for text messages and data roaming services.

The number and range of networked devices that use Internet addresses are still increasing quickly: from PCs and mobile phones to RFID readers and in-car devices. As demand for addresses continues to grow, it is time to start using the next generation Internet Protocol: IPv6 will remedy that situation.

This publication highlights new cutting edge research in this field, with a compendium of projects supported under the first round of EU funding from the Seventh Framework Programme for Research. The 70 projects, worth nearly EUR 300 million of EU research investment, with an additional EUR 200 million from the academia and industry involved in them, represent international public-private partnerships addressing the key challenges for the development of the Future Internet.

The European Commission services have gathered information on the state of implementation of 116 numbers in the EU Member States.

Using the Internet and other online technologies should be as safe as possible, particularly for children. The Safer Internet plus Programme is determined to make online environments safer by fighting illegal and harmful online content and conduct, ranging from racism to bullying, grooming and child abuse material. Over the years 2005-2008 the EU spends more than € 45 million to make the Internet a safer place.

This publication gives a short insight into the 2007 results of the Community survey on ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) usage in households and by individuals in the 27 Member States of the European Union.

Europe's telecom sector has grown strong. But if we want to keep up with the changes of a globalizing world, more needs to be done to maintain its strength.

10 Background Factsheets for the Press

This white paper is intended for identifying future research challenges in Networked Media. Availability of information at all places is becoming crucial to the development of modern day society. In addition, information is already available in the form of various media such as audio, video and text. Furthermore, in the Networked Media of the future all the elements of the media value chain will have a network capacity attached to them. Not only does it mean that all devices and multimedia content will be network-enabled but it also means that users and providers will participate and collaborate actively in a community network. The paper focuses on three main axes of future progress – true broadband support, personalized media, and distributed control.

The EU Regulatory Framework for electronic communications, which entered into force on 23 July 2003, empowers the European Commission to comment upon, and in some cases even to require national regulatory authorities to withdraw a proposed measure. These powers enable the Commission to ensure a level playing field in eCommunications throughout Europe and to consolidate the EU single market, to the ultimate benefit of the end customer.

Now that the EU regulation on roaming is here, roaming costs are set to be considerably cheaper, up to 70% cheaper, for travellers within the European Union. This leaflet gives 10 tips to benefit from lower roaming charges as soon as possible.

The study aims to give an overview of the development of telecommunications and the information society in eight countries : Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Moldova. These countries have engaged in varying policies with regard to electronic communications and the information society, producing markets that, while similar, have fundamental differences. These differences include the level of competition in the telecommunications market, the degree of privatisation, and the extent to which online retail and service provision are supported by a comprehensive legislative framework.

The electronic communications regulatory regime, which came into force in July 2003, is based on close partnership between Member States and the Commission. New collaborative mechanisms provide maximum national regulatory discretion while ensuring coherence throughout the EU’s single market.

In July 2003, a new legal framework regulating electronic communications services and networks came into force in the European Union. The EU regulatory framework aims to promote competition, to reinforce the single market and to safeguard consumer interests in the electronic communications sector.