EU Digital Agenda: broadband trends

Yesterday we looked at some basic economic facts and market trends in the European ICT sector, available at the time the Digital Agenda was launched.

We return to the Commission staff working document SEC(2010) 630 final/2, which accompanied the 15th progress report about telecoms (eCommunications) markets in Europe:

CORRIGENDUM
Annule et remplace le document SEC(2010) 630 final du 25.5.2010

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT accompanying the COMMUNICATION PROGRESS REPORT ON THE SINGLE EUROPEAN ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS MARKET (15th REPORT); Brussels, 25.8.2010 SEC(2010) 630 final/2 PART 1 (422 pages)

Here are a few market trends I found interesting enough to share with you.


BRICS

Europeans generally and the movers and 'brakers' of European integration need to adapt the EU to a globalising world, with some countries (BRICS) not only emerging, but practically bursting unto the scene. Here a quote regarding broadband uptake (page 23):

Growth rates in developing countries (India 62%, China 23%, Russia 39%, Brazil 23%, Mexico 54%) outpaced the levels of developed countries, clearly from much lower levels of penetration. Many EU operators have been very active in these growing markets.

Europe did not necessarily offer the best deal for SMEs and consumers (page 23):

In October 2009 broadband standalone access at 100 Mbps was available at around 30 euros per month in Japan and 20 euros in Korea. These prices are between 20 and 50% lower than prices for similar products in those EU countries where these are available.

Broadband speed

With regard to broadband speed the trend was clear (page 27):

Low speed broadband lines with download rates between 144 Kbps and 2 Mbps only represent 15% of all fixed broadband lines in January 2010, down from 25% in 2009, while the fastest category of lines (10 Mbps and above) has increased its share, from 14% in January 2009 to 23% of all fixed broadband lines in January 2010.

State aid

The working paper referred to the guidelines adopted by the Commission on 17 September 2009 which outline how public funding can be provided for broadband in line with EU state aid rules (page 32-33):

In 2009 the European Commission took 12 decisions regarding broadband projects involving public funding. 11 of these were found to be compatible with the Treaty (article 4(3) decision types), while one was not considered aid but rather a Service of General Economic Interest.

The total amount of the aid approved was €467 million.

Since then the European Commission had advanced to 83 decisions by 28 July 2011. The Commission DG Competition (see Telecommunications) is now digesting the responses to the public consultation regarding the revision of the State aid Broadband Guidelines.



Ralf Grahn


P.S. Dear Readers, I am still interested in Digital Agendas (language versions), as well as information society plans and ICT actions in the member states of the European Union. If you know something about national information society strategies, you can use the comment section or email me.

UK and the fall of the ”EU dictatorship”

”Gov(ernmen)t sees off revolt by Tory eurosceptics”, if we believe the AFP, but readers of Mail Online are happy to be served ”Tory eurosceptics win battle over UK 'sovereignty clause' ”.

In UK discourse about the EU even the most basic of facts are contested, if we assume that the reporting concerns the same Parliament and the same European Union (Bill).

Those who are able to stomach it can delve deeper into parliamentary debate on Europe, UK style.


EuroGoblin

Ahead of the parliamentary debate in the United Kingdom, EuroGoblin was more interested in the coming vote than in the crusade from the Daily Express: We Are the Knights Who Say … No! (10 January 2011).

In my view it would be wrong to ignore the astounding argumentation concerning the ”EU dictatorship” by the self-proclaimed ”world's greatest newspaper” The Daily Express, presented on 23 pages in order to ”Get Britain out of the EU” (8 January 2011).

That a newspaper can thrive on such writing anywhere in the free world beggars belief, not only with regard to editorial standards, but the quality of large parts of the political establishment and the educational system of the nation.


BRICs rising and Europe sinking

I wrote a comment on the EuroGoblin blog, where I tried to explain why the European Union needs less retrograde thinking and a whole lot more of energy in a world increasingly shaped by the BRICs. Even if the United Kingdom is an extreme example of toxic discourse, the rest of Europe is well on its way to oblivion:

I am actually less insouciant than you [EuroGoblin], because the debate in the United Kingdom is characterised by varying degrees of backwardness, even more than in Europe generally.

In the real world various Asian countries have already surpassed the EU member states in educational achievements (Pisa), China is about to pass Europe in research and development within a decade, the world’s industrial output is increasingly produced in Asia, the Chinese armed forces are strenghtened at a rapid pace, the US and European governments are in hock to China, and as consumers we spend more than we earn on Chinese goods.

There seem to be only token efforts to put the European Union back on the world map and on the road to economic prosperity.

Discussing various scenarios of backward mobility (as in the UK) gives me the impression of criminal neglect from our beloved leaders.

Energy and democracy

In my view, the citizens of the European Union need an energetic and effective union in the crucial matters of security and prosperity, but this union has to be based on its citizens, meaning full EU level democracy and political accountability.

A Britain erring between the Scylla of still more sterile sovereignty or the Charybdis of EU withdrawal is certainly not the leadership model Europeans need for the high seas of the 21st century. The best we can hope for from the United Kingdom is to do as little damage as possible.

But where are the leaders the rest of us EU citizens need?



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Oh, US is US, and EU is EU, and never the twain shall meet? Forgive me, Kipling, but it will be interesting to see what my new acquaintance The Worden Report makes of his comparison of federalism in the United States and the European Union in the end. In my humble opinion, Europe has substantially more than a healthy dose of Anti-Federalist (News)Papers for the challenges of the 21st century, especially in the English language.