Broadband News
News, views and analysis
Digital Europe?
21 Sep 2009 | 07.11 Europe/London
It's not just the British Government that's been considering how to use broadband to bridge the "digital divide" - Europe's been at it too. And now the European Commission has set out rules on when state aid can and can't be used in hooking up its disconnected and digitally disenfranchised citizens, does the final draft of the UK's Digital Britain report face yet more revisions?
To cut to the chase, it would be the infamous fixed-line tax raised by Digital Britain that could be affected - if ever implemented, under whichever Government wins the distant general election. The EC's new guide says that any state funding supplied must be used to create an open-access network. This could create potential difficulties when it comes to utilising mobile broadband to fill in Britain's notspots, with sharing the infrastructure - i.e. mobile phone masts - not exactly straightforward. That could mean BT's new BET (Broadband Enabling Technology) could pay off, although the requirement for bespoke equipment at both ends of the line could limit full unbundling.
But what's the point in these new guidelines? Excitingly, they're designed to "facilitate the widespread roll out of high speed and very high speed broadband networks, enhancing European competitiveness and helping to build a knowledge-based society in Europe." For EC at least, the stakes are high; it's President, a Mr. Barroso, has declared that "all Europeans must have access to high speed broadband." And to think, the British Government's struggling to keep focus on bringing that goal to just one nation - never mind a continent. But don't panic: the EC's competition commissioner has pointed out in a speech that "acting decisively requires legal certainty and predictability for both governments and private investors," which should scupper anything actually happening anywhere in Europe.
Some sexy figures were bandied around when the EC's guide was announced. "We expect to see up to 300 billion euros of investment in both high and very high speed European broadband networks in the coming decade," said the aforementioned competition commissioner, a Mr. Neelie Kroes - which, in good ol' sterling, is around £270 billion (and that's presumably "billion" in the American context of the word, meaning a "thousand million" and somehow now so ubiquitous that even the UK's Treasury uses it - to its own surprise - as hard-hitting news programme Mock The Week revealed last week). In anyone's eyes, that's a lot of 50 pence pieces.
And then there was some not-so-sexy political lexicon and the stating-of-the-bleeding-obvious. "Public funds are not always needed for public authorities to promote broadband deployment and, in any event, they should not crowd out or delay private investments," Kroes continued, to a stunned crowd. "Before granting state aid, public authorities should therefore consider whether they can promote private investments with other means, for instance by co-ordinating civil works and streamlining administrative procedures."
So what of the guide itself? Broadly it chimes with the UK Government's vision for a Digital Future, stating "a well targeted state intervention in the broadband field can contribute to reducing the 'digital divide' "that sets apart areas or regions within a country where affordable and competitive broadband services are on offer and areas where such services are not." But when it comes to finally deciding on how Britain's notspots are to be plugged, the .gov now has to watch its step. The guide's concerned about "technological neutrality," and here's how that translates into practice:
And if you feel like a trawl through some formulated bureaucracy in PDF form, the full guide is available here.
To cut to the chase, it would be the infamous fixed-line tax raised by Digital Britain that could be affected - if ever implemented, under whichever Government wins the distant general election. The EC's new guide says that any state funding supplied must be used to create an open-access network. This could create potential difficulties when it comes to utilising mobile broadband to fill in Britain's notspots, with sharing the infrastructure - i.e. mobile phone masts - not exactly straightforward. That could mean BT's new BET (Broadband Enabling Technology) could pay off, although the requirement for bespoke equipment at both ends of the line could limit full unbundling.
But what's the point in these new guidelines? Excitingly, they're designed to "facilitate the widespread roll out of high speed and very high speed broadband networks, enhancing European competitiveness and helping to build a knowledge-based society in Europe." For EC at least, the stakes are high; it's President, a Mr. Barroso, has declared that "all Europeans must have access to high speed broadband." And to think, the British Government's struggling to keep focus on bringing that goal to just one nation - never mind a continent. But don't panic: the EC's competition commissioner has pointed out in a speech that "acting decisively requires legal certainty and predictability for both governments and private investors," which should scupper anything actually happening anywhere in Europe.
Some sexy figures were bandied around when the EC's guide was announced. "We expect to see up to 300 billion euros of investment in both high and very high speed European broadband networks in the coming decade," said the aforementioned competition commissioner, a Mr. Neelie Kroes - which, in good ol' sterling, is around £270 billion (and that's presumably "billion" in the American context of the word, meaning a "thousand million" and somehow now so ubiquitous that even the UK's Treasury uses it - to its own surprise - as hard-hitting news programme Mock The Week revealed last week). In anyone's eyes, that's a lot of 50 pence pieces.
And then there was some not-so-sexy political lexicon and the stating-of-the-bleeding-obvious. "Public funds are not always needed for public authorities to promote broadband deployment and, in any event, they should not crowd out or delay private investments," Kroes continued, to a stunned crowd. "Before granting state aid, public authorities should therefore consider whether they can promote private investments with other means, for instance by co-ordinating civil works and streamlining administrative procedures."
So what of the guide itself? Broadly it chimes with the UK Government's vision for a Digital Future, stating "a well targeted state intervention in the broadband field can contribute to reducing the 'digital divide' "that sets apart areas or regions within a country where affordable and competitive broadband services are on offer and areas where such services are not." But when it comes to finally deciding on how Britain's notspots are to be plugged, the .gov now has to watch its step. The guide's concerned about "technological neutrality," and here's how that translates into practice:
Given that broadband services can be delivered on a host of network infrastructures based on wireline (xDSL, cable), wireless (Wi-Fi, WiMAX), satellite and mobile technologies, Member States should not favour any particular technology or network platform unless they can show that there is an objective justification for this. Bidders should be entitled to propose the provision of the required broadband services using or combining whatever technology they deem most suitable.
And if you feel like a trawl through some formulated bureaucracy in PDF form, the full guide is available here.