The European Commission (EC) has, for the first time, proposed that
governments within the European Union (EU) should provide aid or
financial incentives to boost the availability of high speed
broadband Internet services.
Widespread availability of broadband - which allows content
providers to offer consumers advanced multimedia services - is key
to ensuring Europe's competitiveness, the EC said in its report,
"eEurope 2005", released last week.
The EC, the EU's executive body, said any financial aid should be
targeted at underdeveloped areas where private sector investment is
not viable. "Member states, in co-operation with the commission,
should support, where necessary, deployment in less favoured areas,
and, where possible, may use structural funds and/or financial
incentives. Particular attention should be paid to outermost
regions," it said.
As well as widespread availability of broadband, Europe should, by
2005, have online public services, particularly e-government,
e-health and e-learning, a dynamic e-business environment and a
secure information infrastructure, the report said.
Each of these priorities is interrelated with the others, said
Erkki Liikanen, commissioner for enterprise and information.
"The widespread availability of broadband access, for example,
requires the appearance of new services and content, ranging from
e-government to entertainment, but many of these new services
require the always-on nature and speed of broadband, as well as
better security," he said.
Initiatives to get public services online and the emergence of
digital TV and third generation communications should help the
demand side of the equation, while on the supply side, initiatives
such as the establishment of a cyber-security task force and
funding for less favoured regions should advance the roll-out of
broadband infrastructure, Liikanen said.