EU urges more broadband internet access

Wednesday March 22nd 2006, 10:42 am
Filed under: Online news

The European Union’s executive office on Tuesday called on the governments of member nations to do more to get people online. If governments act now to boost investment in high-speed networks in remote and rural areas, all EU citizens could have such access by 2010, said Viviane Reding, the EU’s information technology commissioner. The European Commission hopes that subsidies for public-private undertakings from its EUR 70bn rural development fund will be used by governments to close the digital divide. One of the main challenges is making expansion into less-populated, rural areas commercially viable for internet service providers, EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes told a news conference with Reding. Only 13 per cent of the EU population of 450m people or about 25 per cent of households have broadband access, according to EU data. The Netherlands, Denmark and Finland have the highest penetration rates (between 20 and 25 per cent), followed by Sweden (19 per cent), Belgium (18 per cent), Britain and France (both 15 per cent) and Luxembourg (14 per cent). The other 19 nations are below the EU average of 15 per cent, especially the newcomer nations but also Italy and Spain, where broadband reaches only 10 per cent of the population. The EU has been pushing for expanded internet access as a way to increase productivity and growth. Leaders at a two-day EU summit opening Thursday in Brussels are expected to discuss ways to improve those efforts. (AP, ABC News,March 22, 2006)

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