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Talk is cheap …

Posted on June 8, 2007 | Filed Under communication technologies, public services 

while broadband data remains expensive and, sometimes, elusive. This may well be the essence of the roaming regulation (which was approved by the Council yesterday - the formal decision is scheduled for 25 June 2007), once all the hot air will be gone. More on the roaming regulation will be posted here shortly, and so we look forward to this summer, when we will all have “something else to smile about while on holidays thanks to the new EU roaming Regulation”, as Commisisoner Reding promises us (by explicitly stressing “something else“ I am sure what the Commissioner refers to are her own press releases, which give us something to smile each time we read them: take, for instance, Reding’s joy about Europe’s internal market becoming “truly borderless, even for mobile phone bills”, just as if up to now phone bills were prohibited from moving around Europe).

But talk is cheap might also have been the catch phrase for a conference that took place in May: “Bridging the Broadband Gap” was addressed by four Members of the EU Commission - you can read their speeches here:

• Mariann Fischer Boel - Quote: “So with regard to rural policy and broadband, we have launched the boat, and we will see where it goes.” (Sounds a lot like Shakespeare: “Mischief thou art afoot, Take thou what course thou wilt!” [Julius Caesar])
• Danuta Hübner - Quote: “We have to foster building relationship capital, through increasing the communities’ capacity to cooperate and to mobilise all the available expertise, and, finally, through building relations founded on trust and mutual confidence.” (Or, as Shakespeare put it: “One feast, one house, one mutual happiness.” [The Two Gentlemen of Verona])
• Viviane Reding - Quote: “Diversity is one of Europe’s competitive advantages - broadband can make it fly.” (Shakespeare: “your consent gives strength to make it fly.” [Romeo and Juliet”]).
• Neelie Kroes - Quote: “This event should be a practical example of ‘bringing Europe closer to its citizens’, so I hope for a real debate on the real issues.” (Shakespeare: “it is not to be question’d that they had gather’d a wise council to them of every realm, that did debate this business” [King Henry VIII])

Basically, Reding said broadband was important, then she praised competition and advertised the upcoming reform of the telecommunications regulatory framework. However, the one concrete information packaged in her speech was the delay in addressing reform of the Universal Service Obligation. In last years’s Communication on the Review, a Green Paper on universal service was promised for 2007. In her speech this May, Reding put that off for another year; the legislative proposals (if any) will not be brought forward before 2009 (”This could in turn lead to legislative proposals in 2009.”).

It’s a polite way of saying: Universal Service reform has been called off - at least it will not be part of “tomorrow’s framework” .

PS: here you find the Communication “Bridging the Broadband Gap” of March 2006 and the Conference Conclusions of the May 2007-conference.

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