Europe made progress on its digital agenda over the last...

Europe made progress on its digital agenda over the last year, but results in some areas are still “disappointing,” the European Commission said Tuesday. The first digital agenda scorecard, which measured how well countries performed in meeting 13 agreed targets from May 2010-May 2011, showed that 65 percent of the population now uses the Internet yet rollout of superfast broadband lags, the EC said. Of the 13 targets, it said regular Internet use, online shopping and e-government services are all on the rise. There’s still “considerable room for development” of on-demand services and online music subscriptions, which now have significant markets only in the largest European countries, it said. There was mixed progress in broadband availability and take-up, with very high-speed broadband concentrated in a few, mostly urban, areas, it said. Adoption of fixed broadband is increasing, but the growth rate in 2010 was the lowest since 2002, the EC said. It said the slowdown is troubling because nearly 40 percent of homes still have no broadband connection. Coverage of 3G mobile networks reached 90 percent in 2010. Europe’s goal is for universal coverage at 30 Mbps, already available in nearly 30 percent of households, the EC said. Only 5 percent of all fixed lines deliver speeds of 30 Mbps and above, it said. Cross-border e-commerce and use of the Internet by small and mid-sized enterprises remains sluggish, it said. Roaming prices are down, but are still more than three times as expensive as domestic calls, it said. Another weak area is public spending on research and development, the EC said. The 10 million homes not served by broadband must be reached by a combination of technologies, Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes said at a high-level broadband conference in Brussels. She said she favors a mix of infrastructure -- wired networks as well as terrestrial or satellite wireless -- because while wireless technology doesn’t perform as well as advanced wired networks, it’s “good and getting better.” Satellites already contribute to the goal of broadband for all, but Europe’s clear mandate on basic broadband should spur the sector to continue long-term investment, she said. Another reason for a mix of technologies is that it promotes competition among platforms, she said. “We don’t want to pick winners,” Kroes said. She said she wants to “send a clear signal” to the market and public investors that “we cannot afford to rule out viable solutions” in the race to deliver broadband for all by 2013. The scorecard confirms the decline in revenue and investment by telecom operators for the second year in a row, despite the boom in data traffic and consumer broadband take-up, said the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association. The disconnect between traffic increases and revenue growth calls for a “broader reflection on the economy of the sector and its impact on the future of the Internet,” said ETNO Executive Board Chairman Luigi Gambardella. ETNO urged the EC to allow new business models to emerge from the market, such as differentiated offers and commercial agreements on traffic delivery. It also wants the EC to encourage national regulators to use a more targeted approach to next-generation access networks, and to speed consumer adoption of fast and ultra-fast networks by updating copyright and licensing laws to enable more legitimate online offers. Alternative operators said they're worried about Europe falling behind on broadband speeds. The main problem is that “most of Europe’s historic telcos are continuing to sweat old copper networks” while other regions in the world have moved to high-speed fiber, said European Competitive Telecommunications Association Director Ilsa Godlovitch. The EC must ensure there’s a link, as with other utility industries, between investments companies make to upgrade their infrastructure and what they're allowed to charge for their networks, she said. In most countries, incumbents are paid for renewing their networks regardless of whether they invest in new ones, she said. Satellite operators applauded Kroes for recognizing what they called their sector’s crucial role in delivering 100 percent broadband coverage. Despite a clear political objective, rising user needs and the availability of funding, Europe’s digital divide remains, said European Satellite Operators’ Association Secretary General Aarti Holla. She said ESOA wants local authorities to “move away from a one size fits all approach,” think pragmatically and be creative in finding solutions for unconnected areas.