• silicon.com
• Management
• CIO Insights

By Sally Watson, 22 February 2002 00:01

NEWS The rollout of high-speed internet access across Europe will be top of the agenda for EU information ministers who are meeting in Vitoria, Spain, today to hammer out a joint agreement on the matter. According to UK ecommerce minister Douglas Alexander, the broadband initiative will be at the heart of the European Commission's e-Europe plan over the next year. Alexander told silicon.com: "I expect ministers to recognise the real progress made with broadband, but also acknowledge there is further work to do. We'll be setting new priorities for 2002." Alexander, who will attend today's informal meeting, said the widespread availability and use of broadband was essential to Europe's economic future. "There are now more Europeans online than there are Americans, which is a huge opportunity for British firms," he said. The e-Europe action plan, first launched at the Lisbon summit in June 2000, set out a series of targets designed to bring the benefits of an information society to all European citizens. Although the action plan has been praised for its aspirations, ministers at today's meeting will be under pressure to come up with tangible improvements to European telco regulation. Referring to the German regulator's decision to push DSL prices higher after monopoly accusations against Deutsche Telekom, Alexander said it was important for EU countries to provide a level playing field in terms of regulatory policy. "I'm keen to see the UK companies get a fair crack of the whip," he said. A report released earlier this month showed fewer than one in 10,000 telephone lines across Europe have been wrested away from incumbent telcos by rival operators. The meeting's recommendations will go forward to the heads of government summit in Barcelona in June.