"Regulatory holidays” for build-out of new fiber networks won’t be tolerated, Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes said Monday, unveiling the European Commission’s proposed three-pronged approach to universal and high-speed broadband. The statements on broadband investment, regulation of access to new networks and establishing a five-year spectrum policy program make up a package of reforms the EC hopes will jump-start Europe’s digital economy. The proposals won general praise from the telecom sector, but a few niggling concerns remain, various sources said. The measures must be approved by the European Parliament and Council.
The European Commission is eyeing a wide range of actions aimed at boosting broadband access and speed, spurring build-out of next-generation fiber networks and freeing up spectrum for new wireless services, draft documents show. The statements on broadband investment, regulating access to new networks and establishing a multi-year spectrum policy path make up a package of reforms the EC hopes will meet the goals of the digital agenda for a “smart, sustainable and inclusive economy,” it said. It’s unclear whether these are the final versions of the documents, which we're told the EC is expected to publish Sept. 20.
A council of 47 European countries is expected this year to approve the first international agreement on the use of personal data for online and offline profiling, the head of its law reform department said in an interview. The “recommendation on the protection of individuals with regard to automatic processing of personal data in the framework of profiling” covers online behavioral advertising and other forms of profiling, as well as activities by public authorities such as the police, said Jörg Polakiewicz. The Council of Europe’s effort was prompted by growing threats to privacy from computers’ ability to process data on the Internet, he said. The recommendation is a blueprint for national legislation, he said.
The European Parliament flexed its political muscle on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement Wednesday, approving a statement opposing the lack of openness in its negotiations. The successful declaration, a “rare event” which signals the strength of parliament’s bargaining power, will be sent to the EU Presidency before the next ACTA round at the end of this month in Tokyo, said Françoise Castex, of France and the Socialists and Democrats.
The U.S. may have dropped its demand that ISPs bear some liability for online infringement, but key provisions in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) remain controversial after last month’s negotiations in Washington, said a professor monitoring the talks. The latest ACTA draft was supposed to be kept confidential but leaked over the weekend. Fears persist of a “back-door” requirement of a graduated response to Internet piracy, overly restrictive anti-circumvention provisions, and criminal sanctions, said Michael Geist, University of Ottawa Canada research chair of Internet and e-commerce law, and others watching the talks.
Interest in fiber appears to be higher in the Middle East than in Europe, Fiber-to-the-Home Council Europe Director General Hartwig Tauber said in an interview. With several Mideast countries building up to decisions about broadband deployment in the next few years, now is the time for fiber proponents to tell players about the technology’s benefits, he said. But deployment of FTTH is being slowed by the absence of a regulatory framework like the EU’s, he said.
U.S. talks on net neutrality are being closely monitored by European players and regulators, several said Friday. The collapse of FCC talks and the reported Google-Verizon agreement (CD Aug 6 p1) come in the middle of important consultations in the EU and U.K. on net neutrality. Meanwhile, Germany’s incumbent provider is said to be aiming for a similar agreement with Google. The widely reported Google-Verizon agreement, which the companies have yet to confirm, calls for Verizon to treat all traffic on its wireline network without discrimination and to be more open about how it manages wireless traffic. Google told us Friday it had “no announcement to make at this point.”
Internet Protocol networks are the way forward for emergency-services providers, said IPv6 Forum President Latif Ladid. Though some in public safety consider additional spectrum the answer, that would merely add access and connectivity without making it easier for services to talk to each other, he said in an interview Monday. But Jeppe Jepsen, Motorola’s director of international business relations and a board member of Europe’s Terrestrial Trunked Radio Association (TETRA), said wireless networks aren’t resilient or secure enough to deliver the required services.
Despite the European Commission’s insistence that the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement won’t harm Internet users or ISPs, European lawmakers remain skeptical, some said Tuesday. EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht updated the European Parliament Civil Liberties Committee on the latest round of ACTA talks, held June 28-July 1 in Lucerne, Switzerland. The negotiations produced another draft document, which De Gucht said will be given to the Parliament on the condition that it not be leaked.
Belgium, assuming the EU presidency July 1, will oversee several key telecom initiatives, including the creation of a multi-year radio spectrum policy plan and a pan-European broadband strategy. Political upheaval that resulted in a caretaker government may make the country less effective at pushing the issues than other nations, several observers said.