BT response to European Commission consultation on extending broadband to rural and remote areas

Issued 15 September, 2005

BT's key points are:

• BT has made significant investments and initiated innovative actions, including with public authorities, to close the digital divide. As a result, broadband coverage is now available to 99.6% of the UK households and businesses.

• Based on our UK experience BT does not see a need for new public policy actions at the European level to stimulate the provision of broadband in remote, rural or sparsely populated areas of the EU. BT agrees with the European Commission's proposal (page 53) “to strengthen the application of current policies” instead of conceiving new policies. The EU has adequate policies in place to address the key influences for increasing broadband deployment, namely competitive market conditions, adequate EU Structural Funding of broadband projects and EU funding of research and development of cheaper broadband access technologies. For many EU Member States including the UK it is more appropriate and effective to address the socioeconomic elements of the digital divide.

• Public intervention particularly the use of Regional Aid/Structural Funding in areas of market failure to ensure coverage, is defendable where a commercial case cannot otherwise be made, or an accelerated timetable achieved. However, public intervention should not be permitted in areas where private sector infrastructure already exists, is planned, or where the market has the potential to deliver. Partnership approaches conceived from an integral Information Society strategy and responding to specific local
  demands from users and socio-economic actors are much more effective than supply side interventions or technology-driven approaches.

• The EC should ensure that current assisted areas which have not yet closed the development gap should continue to enjoy Regional Aid/Structural Funding within the next Structural funds framework (2007-2013).

• The consultation frequently refers to the situation where “satellite is the only available option”. BT believes that it is inappropriate to consider any technology-specific initiative or policy to address the broadband coverage issue, even in locations where technology choices are limited. Such an action
  could distort the market by favouring one technology over another at a time when many new broadband technologies and commercial models are evolving quickly and are yet to realise their full potential.

• We would give a low priority to the usefulness of a European website. Most of its proposed objectives are already covered by existing initiatives and we believe that the current market structures and specific national/regional characteristics favour approaches formulated at the nearest level to the region itself. In addition, it is questionable to seek to facilitate market entry for any particular broadband technology, as is suggested by the purpose of using the website to investigate demand aggregation for satellite solutions.

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