EU considers moves to boost broadband coverage

Access to broadband services across Europe has increased significantly in the last year, now topping 90 million lines, but the region is still lagging behind other continents and needs to take steps to boost both coverage and adoption, the EU's top telecoms official has announced.

Broadband access in the EU's 25 oldest member states - excluding Romania and Bulgaria - increased by 28.7 per cent from July 2006 to July 2007, the European Commission said.

Increasing the availability of broadband is seen by the EU's executive as a key step to boosting economic growth by helping smaller businesses work better.

Broadband access was the highest in Denmark (37.2 per cent) and the Netherlands (33.1 per cent), while it is only 5.7 per cent in Bulgaria, and 6.6 per cent in Romania, according to the EU figures.

The Commission said the gap was widening slightly.

"It is unacceptable that the gap between the strongest and weakest performers in Europe is growing. Europe must act now to get its broadband house in order," EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said in a statement.

She said she would make specific proposals as part a package of reforms of EU telecom rules on 13 November

"Lack of competition and regulatory weaknesses are cited as the main obstacles to broadband growth," the Commission said in the statement.

Reding has said she will propose to give all national telecoms regulators the power to separate the network and business arms of operators in case of serious competition problems.

She also wants a new pan-EU regulator to be able to impose competition remedies on a national regulator, jointly with the Commission, if Brussels is not happy with the way a national regulator handles a problem.

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