UNIVERSAL SERVICE : SETTING EU-WIDE CONNECTION SPEED NOT ADVISABLE, EXECUTIVE SAYS.

• Position: Neelie Kroes

Requiring a specific internet connection speed at Union level under universal service rules (Directive 2002/EC) is not appropriate at this stage, concludes the European Commission, in a report published on 23 November 2011(1). The text concerns the results of the third review of universal service and a public consultation on this subject conducted in spring 2010. The EU executive states more generally that the basic concept, principles and scope of EU rules on universal service do not need to be changed.

Adopted in March 2002, the Universal Service Directive obliges member states to guarantee that their citizens can access the public phone network at a fixed location and access public phone services for voice and data communications with functional access to the internet. Although the directive limits "functional access to the internet" to low-speed transmissions, the 2009 telecommunications package gives member states the possibility to define speeds at national level, including broadband.

The Commission finds that it is inappropriate at this stage to set a specific transmission speed at European Union level given the very different stages of development of telecommunications networks in member states and the potential costs of this measure. However, the 27 have the possibility to include broadband connections in their national universal service obligations.

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