Europe’s Way to the High Speed Internet: Why Effective Network Competition is the Freeway to the Future

Viviane Reding, commissioner for information society and media

Europe’s Way to the High Speed Internet: Why Effective Network Competition is the Freeway to the Future.

Main Messages of Commissioner Reding’s speech:

• The technological and economic developments paving the way for high-speed broadband networks have the potential to increase competition to the benefit of consumers. But they can also lead to new bottlenecks and re-monopolisation of end user markets.
• A key element in my vision for Next Generation Access regulation is to ensure that all parties, entrants or incumbents have sufficient incentives to move in these markets.
• Regulatory restraint as a carte blanche for incumbents to re-monopolise markets where the buds of competition are flourishing is not a policy option if we want competitive markets.
• It is very important that the conditions to invest exist and regulatory certainty is one of those conditions. Today, the regulatory landscape in Europe is unfortunately heavily fragmented in this respect.
• Regulatory guidance by the Commission is therefore required and appropriate in order to foster investments and maintain competition between infrastructure networks and service providers in the broadband area.
• In the forthcoming Commission Recommendation on Next Generation Access, the Commission intends to ensure consistency of regulatory approaches by establishing three principles of NGA regulation for the next 5 years

To view the full speech visit http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/08/355&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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