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EC Consultation: How Will Europe Lead the Transition to Web 3.0

On October 3, 2008   /   The Blog   /   Leave a comment

EU+sign EC Consultation: How Will Europe Lead the Transition to Web 3.0On 29th September, The European Commission outlined the main steps that Europe has to take to respond to the next wave of the Information Revolution that will intensify in the coming years due to trends such as social networking, the decisive shift to on-line business services, nomadic services based on GPS and mobile TV and the growth of smart tags. A public consultation has been launched today by the Commission on the policy and private sector responses to these opportunities. You can get the Communication directly from here.

EC also announced a new tool to evaluate member states’ broadband performance, the Broadband Performance Index that compares competition, coverage, speed and quality of Internet access across Europe. Greece is ranked 24th in the new index as opposed to the 25th place we reserved in previous standard ranking.

Web 3.0 is a term coined for seamless ‘anytime, anywhere’ business, entertainment and social networking over fast reliable and secure networks. It generally refers to potentially possibly and not necessarily practically feasible internet aspects (in respect to the internet backbone and access we have today). According to Commissioner Reading “It means the end of the divide between mobile and fixed lines. It signals a tenfold quantum leap in the scale of the digital universe by 2015. Europe has the know-how and the network capacity to lead this transformation. We must make sure that Web 3.0 is made and used in Europe.“

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Last Weekend’s Homework…

On September 22, 2008   /   Reviews, The Blog   /   Leave a comment
This weekend a flue has grounded me in-house, in bed or, at best, in my home office. I took advantage (go figure!) of the situation and read more than usual! While I am still recovering, here’s some of the best web readings of my last weekend:
  1. The Next Broadband Business Models: As broadband growth rates steadily decrease the new business models for broadband will not be based on new subscriber’s growth rather on existing subscriber’s ARPU (average revenue per user). Interesting piece with good ideas in Telephony Online. See also 10 Ideas for Broadband Billing from the same issue of Telephony Online.
  2. Infringement Procedures: EU documentation about the legal proceedings against any Member State that fails to comply with EU telecoms law and regulations. I had to find out a little more about it after the recent related developments against various EU countries such as Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Cyprus, Spain, Bulgaria and Romania.
  3. FTTH with European Flair: A review of the FTTH status in Europe. One of the featuring interviewees is the Fiber Ringer Benoit. Contemporary featured articles in US press give me the impression that US is starting to rethink the strong potentials of governmental involvment in NGAN development.
  4. Lighting Up Next-Gen Nets: For service providers, powering next-generation networks, particularly the outside plant, is becoming a real headache. From network design challenges to problems with improperly grounded electronics at the customer premises to pending federal and state regulatory requirements for backup power, telcos are struggling to resolve power issues quickly so that they can focus more on finding new ways to reduce energy consumption and go green.
  5. Municipalities and Open Access Critical to FTTH Growth in France: Something for all municipal broadband enthousiasts (and not only them) to have a closer look at.
  6. A new kind of muni FTTH network: An insightful discussion of the City of Powell’s business model for installing and operating a GPON (hey! better than nothing) FTTH network.


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EC Public Consultation on NGANs Regulatory Guidelines

On September 20, 2008   /   Government, The Blog   /   Leave a comment
European Commission has issued a public consultation for a set of proposals that are aimed to spur competition and encourage the development of FTTH. After the end of the consultation period (mid-Novemeber) the Commission will adapt the comments of the responders to a formal recommendation in 2009. [Press Release available]

Viviane Reding, the Commissioner for Information Society & Media have always tried to unify the regulation framework of Telecommunications in Europe. In this respect, EC announcement attempts to prevent dominant telecommunications companies from recreating monopolies in next generation fiber-optic networks by:

  1. setting a risk premium for networks that will unbundle their ducts and fibers. Unofficially, the risk is estimated to be between 8-12% but it is expected to finalize above 12%. However, the announcement does not make reference of a specific figure.
  2. describing a pricing methodoloty for calculating the fees that will have to be paid for new services
  3. provisioning for bit stream access but only in the case where lower level remedies fail to address distortions of competition
  4. pushing for more infrastructure competition (i.e. small companies to deploy their onw networks)

No side shows much of excitement for the proposal:

  1. Incumbents argue that the proposal reduce their incentives to invest in NGAN. Their main lobby ETNO (European Telecommunications networks Operators Association) talks about “regulatory pressure” from Brussels.Instead they wish to share the risks of NGANs with the new entrant operators. “Considering that Europe is currently lagging behind other regions in fiber deployment and that investment effort is slowing down, the key focus of the recommendation should be on how to boost risky investment,” said ETNO director Michael Bartholomew.
  2. ECTA (European Competitive Telecommunications Association),the Incumbent’s opposition lobby association argues that guaranteeing access to smaller operators is a must
  3. NRAs via their association ERG (European Regulators Group) describe the pricing proposal as “overly prescriptive”

Needless it is to state that this proposal confronts already taken actions by at least German and Spanish regulators with both trying to grant some sort of regulation holiday to DT and Telefonica.

Full coverage at: EurActiv,Telecoms.com, Inquirer.net,
Opinions at: CommunicationsDirect News, Financial Times,
Background: EU pushes for high-speed internet for all, EU promises to act on high-speed Internet networks

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EMERG – European Mediterranean Regulators Group

On July 18, 2008   /   Government, The Blog   /   Leave a comment

In Malta early July, the National Regulation Authorities of the countries in the Mediterranean basin agreed and signed the memorandum of EMERG, a network for Euro-Mediterranean Telecom Regulators. The group’s establishment and goals have been agreed with European Commission earlier this year.

The primary objectives shared by the regulatory authorities of electronic communications of Euro countries, which include both EU Member States and neighboring countries around the Mediterranean:

  • To create a viable market for electronic communications for the benefit of consumers and businesses, and
  • To bridge the digital divide, making the benefits of the information society accessible to all, especially by providing universal service

Read more →

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[News] European Parliament poised to give the super-regulator a final boot up the backside

On June 13, 2008   /   The Blog   /   Leave a comment

It looks like EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding’s plans for a European regulator will be shot down by the European Council of Ministers today.

Read more in the article of Telecom TV.

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The Future of the Internet

On May 26, 2008   /   The Blog   /   Leave a comment

Earlier this month European Commission – Information Society & Media has published a summary guide of all European research projects that contribute to the future Internet development in Europe. This compendium is prologued by Mrs. Viviane Reding, member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media which concludes:

…the “Future Internet” is at the heart of the 7th Framework Programme. So far some 300 million Euro of our ICT budget have been dedicated to this issue. We now have a golden opportunity to shape the future of the Internet.

I encourage you, the research projects, to work jointly in the setting up of the European Future Internet Assembly that I see as a vehicle to ensure a prominent role of Europe in the global debate.

Europe has all the assets to be a leader on the development of the Future Internet. Not only was the web invented in Europe, but many European companies are winning recognition as “best international internet start-ups”. Europe is also home to the highest number of internet users worldwide. Europe is a tremendous pool of scientifi c talents and creativity.

This excellent summary can be downloaded here. Keep it as a reference for all future European ICT research activities of the next few years.

The “Future Internet” is a bold European effort within the ICT theme of the 7th Framework Programme for research and technological development and if you wish to know more about it visit the European Future Internet Portal. Presentations on key topics are also available.

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