EU Broadband policy[fr] 

A July 2006 survey of 25,000 representative households found that the number of broadband lines has quadrupled since 2003, with one in four homes now connected to the internet via such high-speed links. The Netherlands already has a household penetration rate of 62%, catching up with world broadband leader South Korea.

Internet connectivity is having a profound impact on business and individuals. The move from narrowband to broadband internet access results in higher connectivity and enables new sorts of services. Over the last years, and foreseeable for years to come, it has a big positive effect on Internet usage. 

The term broadband is often used to describe a wide set of technologies, offering data rates that are very different. Usually a distinction is made between higher bandwidth (services at speeds greater than 384kbits/s), current generation broadband (speeds of 2Mbit/s and over) and next generation broadband (speeds of 10 Mbit/s and over). An average broadband connection is currently said to be 25 times faster than a dial-up connection.

The July 2005 digital divide forum report  found that while broadband coverage, especially in rural areas, was growing at a fast pace, take-up was lagging behind. 

The main issues in the broadband discussion are:

• Preventing a new 'digital divide';
• The role of government versus private sector in making the necessary investments;
• Standardisation, e.g. of cable modems;
• Deregulation, unbundling of the local loop;
• Licensing issues in wireless broadband access;
• Legacy infrastructure;
• Market conditions.

Addressing a conference in Brussels in March 2006, Informations Society Commissioner Viviane Reding expressed "two main concerns:
First, broadband is not yet available to all. Deployment costs are high, particularly in distant and scarcely populated areas. In these circumstances, private operators often do not offer broadband because it is not profitable to do so. Today we have a 'territorial broadband gap': in the EU15, more than 90% of urban households and businesses can have access to broadband, against 60% of rural population. [...] for the new Member States [...] I expect the gap to be much greater.
Second, the gap is not just about access. In rural areas, speeds tend to be lower and prices tend to be higher, discouraging use of advanced services.
We must solve these gaps, because broadband matters both economically and socially. Studies on the United States show that thanks to broadband, there was an increase of 1 per cent in the employment growth rate of communities with wide broadband coverage, compared to those without."

The European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA) called on the Member States to implement divestiture, penalties and more effective regulation to deliver a competitive broadband Europe.

A statement by the European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association (ETNO) argues: 'let the market do its broadband work'. It states that positive market developments are due to competition, and not Internet-specific regulation. New innovative packages should be encouraged -not restrained- by regulation, particularly in the field of bundled offers. ETNO says it is essential to abstain from any intervention regarding retail prices that may either distort competition or block the development of price packages that support the take-up of the Internet. Any extension of regulatory obligations, such as mandatory price-regulated wholesale flat rates, may adversely affect incentives to the development of high-speed access services.

The Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe (UNICE) urge Member States to take appropriate actions to promote the take-up and roll-out of broadband in Europe, with quantitative targets.