The existing internet infrastructure in the European Union no longer meets today’s requirements. According to the European Commission, there is an urgent need for more bandwidth with higher speeds so that citizens, companies and governments have better access to smarter and more innovative services such as artificial intelligence (AI), data spaces and virtual reality.
The day-to-day EU administration will also consult the sector about the costs of the investments required for this.
“New technologies require a different internet architecture,” said European Commissioner Thierry Breton (Industry). “And that will not happen in five years, but now.” So the commission is amending a 2014 guideline to accelerate the roll-out of 5G and fibre optic networks by tackling red tape and cumbersome procedures. “We must do everything we can to get there as quickly as possible.”
In addition, the day-to-day management of the EU will consult the sector, including a fairer distribution of the costs to roll out the 5th generation wireless systems (5G) and broadband. “The burden of these investments is getting heavier and heavier,” Breton said at a press conference in Brussels. “This is partly due to a low return on investments in the telecom sector, the increase in raw material costs and energy costs, of course.”
Large telecom companies such as Deutsche Telekom and Orange would like internet companies such as Amazon and Microsoft to take on the part of those costs.