On 19 December 2012, the European Commission (EC) adopted a set of new guidelines on the allocation of state aid to the broadband sector, which will enable Member States to achieve the targets established by the Digital Agenda for Europe initiative.
In particular, the new guidelines contain measures to strengthen obligations of open network access and transparency rules. The document is based on two EC public consultations, which involved broad stakeholder participation, including from Member States, national communications regulators, authorities awarding financial support, telecommunications operators, business and consumer associations and citizens.
The Vice-President of the Commission responsible for competition policy, Joaquín Almunia, believes that ''to achieve the ambitious goals of the Digital Agenda in promoting very fast broadband connections throughout the EU, we need to achieve the right mix between public and private investment''.
The new rules focus on the following principles and priorities:
- technological neutrality - the new guidelines take into account technological advances, acknowledging that super-fast (Next Generation Access) networks can be based on different technological platforms;
- ultra-fast broadband networks - to help achieve the Digital Agenda objective of delivering very fast connections (of more than 100 Mbps) to half of European households by 2020, the revised guidelines will allow public funding also in urban areas but subject to very strict conditions to ensure a pro-competitive outcome.
- Step change to connectivity - to protect private investors, the guidelines require that any public investment must fulfil a so-called ''step change'' (step change), i.e., publicly financed infrastructure can only be allowed if it provides a substantial improvement over existing networks and not only a marginal improvement in citizens' connectivity;
- reinforcement of open access - when a network is realised with taxpayers' money, it is fair that the consumers benefit from a truly open network where competition is ensured;
- transparency - new provisions regarding the publication of documents, a centralised data base for existing infrastructure and ex post reporting obligations to the Commission have been introduced.
Formal adoption of the new guidelines and their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union is due in January 2013.
Further information:
- State aid: Commission adopts new Broadband Guidelines http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-12-1424_en.htm
- EU Guidelines 2013/C 25/1, of 26.01.2013 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2013:025:0001:0026:en:PDF
