New services such as high definition television or videoconferencing need much faster internet access than generally available in Europe.

Fast and ultra fast internet access

We need very fast Internet for the economy to grow strongly and to create jobs and prosperity, and to ensure citizens can access the content and services they want.

The future economy will be a network-based knowledge economy with the internet at its centre. Europe needs widely available and competitively-priced fast and ultra fast internet access. The Europe 2020 Strategy has underlined the importance of broadband deployment to promote social inclusion and competitiveness in the EU. It restated the objective to bring basic broadband to all Europeans by 2013 and seeks to ensure that, by 2020, (i) all Europeans have access to much higher internet speeds of above 30 Mbps and (ii) 50% or more of European households subscribe to internet connections above 100 Mbps.

To reach these ambitious targets it is necessary to develop a comprehensive policy, based on a mix of technologies, focusing on two parallel goals: on the one hand, to guarantee universal broadband coverage (combining fixed and wireless) with internet speeds gradually increasing up to 30 Mbps and above and over time to foster the deployment and take-up of next generation access networks (NGA) in a large part of the EU territory, allowing ultra fast internet connections above 100 Mbps.

Guarantee universal broadband coverage with increasing speeds

Without strong public intervention there is a risk of a sub-optimal outcome, with fast broadband networks concentrated in a few high-density zones with significant entry costs and high prices. The spill-over benefits created by such networks for the economy and society justify public policies guaranteeing universal broadband coverage with increasing speeds.

For this purpose, the Commission intends to adopt a Communication outlining a common framework within which EU and national policies should be developed to meet the Europe 2020 targets. These policies should, in particular, lower the costs of broadband deployment in the entire EU territory, ensuring proper planning and coordination and reducing administrative burdens. For instance, the competent authorities should ensure: that public and private civil engineering works systematically provide for broadband networks and in-building wiring; clearing of rights of way; and mapping of available passive infrastructure suitable for cabling.

Wireless (terrestrial and satellite) broadband can play a key role to ensure coverage of all areas including remote and rural regions. The central problem to develop wireless broadband networks today is access to radio spectrum. Mobile internet users already experience congestion on networks because of inefficient use of radio spectrum. In addition to frustrating users, innovation in markets for new technologies is stifled, affecting € 250 billion of activity annually . A forward-looking European spectrum policy should, while accommodating broadcasting, promote efficient spectrum management, by mandating the use of certain digital dividend frequencies for wireless broadband by a fixed future date, by ensuring additional flexibility (also allowing spectrum trading) and by supporting competition and innovation.

Beside this, national, EU and EIB funding instruments should be used for well targeted broadband investments in areas where the business case is currently weak and, therefore, only such focused intervention can render investments sustainable.

Foster the deployment of NGA networks

Today in Europe internet access is mainly based on the first generation of broadband, meaning internet accessed over legacy telephone copper and TV cable networks. However, citizens and businesses around the world are increasingly demanding much faster NGA networks. In this respect, Europe is still lagging behind some of our main international counterparts. A significant indicator is the level of fibre to the home penetration, which is very low in Europe and far below certain leading G20 nations

To foster the deployment of NGA and to encourage market investment in open and competitive networks the Commission will adopt a NGA Recommendation based on the principles that (i) investment risk should be duly taken into account when establishing cost-oriented access prices, (ii) National Regulatory Authorities should be able to impose the most appropriate access remedies in each case, allowing a reasonable investment pace for alternative operators while taking into account the level of competition in any given area and (iii) co-investments and risk-sharing mechanisms should be promoted.

Open and neutral internet

The Commission will also monitor closely the implementation of the new legislative provisions on the open and neutral character of the internet, which safeguard users' rights to access and distribute information online and ensure transparency about traffic management . The Commission will launch a public consultation before summer 2010 as part of its more general commitment to report by the end of the year, in the light of market and technological developments, on whether additional guidance is required, in order to secure the basic objectives of freedom of expression, transparency, the need for investment in efficient and open networks, fair competition and openness to innovative business models.