EC launches fast broadband consultation period
EC launches fast broadband consultation period
The European Commission (EC) is releasing a consultation document to discuss how best to reduce the cost of rolling out high-speed broadband.
The EC has ambitious targets that involve rolling out 100 per cent broadband coverage to European citizens by next year, with minimum speeds of 30Mb/s. It also hopes to speed-up connections for at least 50 per cent to reach 100Mb/s.
"We need to test practical ideas on how to cut costs and how to make it easier to access, re-use and share this infrastructure," stated Neelie Kroes, the EC Vice President for the digital agenda. She went on to talk about the factors currently holding fast broadband back: "There is nothing more annoying for citizens than road-digging, and nothing more annoying to businesses than pointless red tape."
The EC’s consultation is running until 20 July and is looking for innovation and idea to address several issues and challenges. It hopes to ensure that authorities work together and simplify permit provision and limit the disruption and costs involved.
The EC claims that 80 per cent of the cost of fast broadband roll-out would go into the physical digging up of roads to lay cable. By co-ordinating this public engineering work and ensuring local regions work together, the process can be simplified.
It is now hoping that infrastructure and telecoms firms will be able to input their ideas on how to reduce costs. Meanwhile, it also wants to hear from the public sector and from consumers on the issue.
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