‘ULTRA-FAST BROADBAND’ – POLICY AND PRACTICE’
21st May 2012 – 9:00-18:30, Sofitel Brussels Europe
21st May 2012 – 9:00-18:30, Sofitel Brussels Europe
Keynote Speech by Neelie Kroes
Vice President and Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, European Commission
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TU Delft present the findings and recommendations from their new report
Vice President and Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, European Commission
plus
TU Delft present the findings and recommendations from their new report
Topics include:
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Do we need industrial policy to achieve Digital Agenda targets? Will the market deliver the Commission’s broadband targets on its own or should policy-makers be more pro-active? Should we favour fibre-to-the-home or be technology neutral? Should pricing be used to incentivise investment in NGA? Should policy-makers favour “infrastructure competition” or a “one-network” approach? Delft University of Technology presents new research and other high-level stakeholders from industry and regulators debate the pros and cons of different approaches.
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Access pricing and non-discrimination: How could proposed new rules from the European Commission on access pricing and non-discrimination affect ultra-fast broadband deployment
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Could entrants win the fibre race?: Under what circumstances can new entrants get ahead and is the business case sustainable?
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Infrastructure competition and technologies: where are the limits? Presentations on the future capabilities of fixed and mobile technologies and case studies on fibre and cable roll-out. Is infrastructure duplication a realistic and desirable objective?
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Enabling fibre roll-out: financing and demand – exchange of views with equity and bond investors and infrastructure funds on factors influencing investment decisions. Are the interests of investors and consumers in conflict or can they be made to coincide?
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Ownership, separation and equivalence: an assessment of outcomes achieved through different models ranging from functional separation in the UK, to “independent” utility fibre investors, to Government as the network owner to co-investment by multiple telcos.
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I don’t know about the whole of Europe, but I do know that in the UK there are hardly any new entrants to the market due to the current incumbent being the only eligible company to tender. New startups are not helped or encouraged. Funding is going into protecting the assets of a telephone company instead of helping innovative new measures to get fibre into more areas. Until every european has access to a fit for purpose connection we will never be digital nations. Start in the rural areas and the new networks will encroach on the cities providing competition and showing what a real high speed network can do. There is no point in making the copper network go faster, as ISPs can’t afford the data charges and have to throttle, cap, or put prices up. Only fibre can deliver a truly high speed, futureproof connection for our citizens.