New EU Plans for Telecom

POLICY

In September, the European Commission announced a number of proposals for reforming EU telecoms and copyright rules, with the goal of accelerating investments in fast broadband.

Jean-Claude Juncker

EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT

The EU recognises high-speed internet access as a universal service. By 2020, download rates of 30 Mb/s for all citizens should be standard and at least 50% of European households should have access to connections above 100 Mb/s. The EU also aims to ensure that Europe is at the forefront of 5G evolutions. The EU clearly recognises the need for fibre network deployments and is committed to supporting fibre investment incentives.

"We need to be connected,” said EC President Juncker, during the State of the Union 2016. “Our economy needs it. People need it. And we have to invest in that connectivity now."

 

 

Reaching the connectivity objectives will require some €500 billion investment over the coming decade, largely from private sources. However, a €155 billion investment shortfall is expected. To address this, the Commission has proposed a new European Electronic Communications Code that includes forward-looking, simplified rules that make it more attractive for all companies to invest in new top-quality infrastructures, everywhere in the EU, locally and across national borders. Investments triggered by the new framework could boost EU GDP by an additional €910 billion and create 1.3 million new jobs by 2025.

 

 

Expected changes

 

Changes are expected to rules that prevent companies from making joint investments or sharing network capacity. This will be permitted, providing operators make investments that reduce costs of building multiple networks. In addition, former state-owned incumbents would be obliged to offer access to their infrastructure where necessary to provide coverage in areas underserved by the market. Security rules that currently apply to telecoms providers will be extended to cover a wide variety of social media and apps.

 

Furthermore, it will be easier for broadcasters who wish to use content across the EU to receive approval from rights holders or collecting societies. The EU aims to protect EU citizens’ personal online data through legal framework changes and equip every European village and city with free wireless internet access.

 

Philippe Vanhille, Senior Vice President Telecom Business at Prysmian Group, commented: “We believe the Commission has struck the right tone in this proposal which clearly incentivizes the provision of the next generation networks that Europe needs. We will continue in our efforts to facilitate the discussions and decision making as these proposals progress through the EU institutions.”

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The EU Digital Single Market video

Prysmian Group believes the EU ‘gigabit society’ vision is pointing Europe in the right direction. We welcome the EC telecommunications review and its efforts to make Europe’s telecoms rules fit for the digital age. The industry, consumers, politicians and regulators can all share that vision, which will enable Europe to reap the full benefits of new technologies such as Internet of Things. Prysmian also strongly agrees with the Commission’s assessment of the necessity of fibre backhaul networks to achieve 5G speeds and functionality.

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“The IT revolution offers our society a unique opportunity to significantly enhance productivity, if implemented properly,” explains Wolter Lemstra. “Telecom and communications infrastructure – specifically fibre broadband - play a vital role in this. Infrastructure-based competition is vital to developing broadband access, but we should also recognize the limits of the market-driven model. For this reason, governments have a vital role to play wherever commercial models fail to supply broadband.”

 

“Research also suggests that the economic benefits of broadband will only materialize if investments in ICT hardware and software are complemented with investment in human capital - skills development - and the reconceptualization of business models and business processes.”

 

Wolter first encountered FTTH in 1991, during a pilot carried out by telco incumbent KPN in The Netherlands. At the time, the obvious choice was to use existing copper networks and avoid the expense of laying new cables in the ground. The data rates fibre offered seemed excessive. “Today, however, they’re absolutely necessary. Video is one important bandwidth-hungry driver. Not just watching or downloading content, but also applications such as teleconferencing or security surveillance. The Internet of Things may have modest speed requirements, but there are billions of them. Moreover, upcoming applications such as remote surgery, that need extremely low latency and high data speeds, will increase the need for fibre even further. Trying to extend the life of copper networks is not a long-term solution.”

 

“Of course, the provider makes the final decision regarding the choice of technology, but governments have a duty to inform and educate and stimulate the uptake of the most future-proof solution. If the government finances a network, for example in a rural area, they can decide which technology is most appropriate. Across Europe, we see great diversity in alternative approaches to using fibre, based on initiatives by municipalities, non-telco entrepreneurs, cooperatives and user communities. We advise national, regional and local governments how to leverage and facilitate these initiatives.”

 

“In several Central and Eastern European countries which had little or no copper networks to start with they went directly to fibre. And once fibre is available, people tend to use more bandwidth. Today, people in Japan and Korea use far higher data rates than Europeans, but interestingly if current trends continue, it looks as if that gap will be closed by 2020.”

© Copyright Prysmian Group.

All rights reserved.