The European Commission estimates that only 70% of the population of the EU's countryside areas can rely on existing infrastructure to access the Internet via a high-speed connection.
The situation represents a new form of economic and social division between EU citizens as new services are made available on the Web.
To address this 'digital divide', Spain, which assumes the EU's rotating presidency in the first half of 2010, is considering obliging member states to provide nationwide broadband coverage. Its plans are shared by Belgium and Hungary, which take on the EU presidency after Spain. All three countries are pursuing a common 'trio' programme.
The proposed means of achieving this goal is the extension of universal service provision to high-speed Internet. "The presidencies will launch work on the new scope of the universal service in electronic communications and on the incorporation of broadband in the scope of universal service," reads the draft programme of the EU Council agreed for the next 18 months.
Funding broadband for all
However, the industry remains sceptical about using such means to achieve complete coverage of high-speed Internet.
ETNO, the association representing incumbent telecoms operators in the EU, estimates that the cost of current universal service obligations could hit 800 million euros in some Eastern European countries if applied completely.
Industry representatives want to know how the extension of universal service status to broadband will be funded. "Who will pay for ensuring that the most remote areas of Europe are covered?" they ask.
The state could directly pay operators to provide the service to all citizens, but such a move would result in high public expenditure, which is particularly unlikely to happen given the current economic climate.
Another way would be to pool operators together to invest in infrastructure, but this is also unlikely due to strong opposition from the industry and many EU states.
One alternative could be to favour high-speed Internet over mobile networks, which already almost cover EU territory in its entirety. Under this scenario, full coverage could be reached at a low cost, but it implies strengthening the capacity of mobile networks, for example by making new radio frequencies available to mobile operators instead of reserving the digital dividend for broadcasters.
In any case, the telecoms industry questions the need to extend universal service provision at a time when a general review of current rules is seen as the priority.
Current provisions still oblige telecoms incumbents in many EU countries to operate public payphones or to deliver telephone directories to users. Both services have been made redundant almost everywhere by the spread of mobile telephones and the availability of telephone numbers over the Internet.
Moreover, in many Eastern European countries, the inclusion of fixed telephone lines within universal service provisions did not lead to full territorial coverage, while mobile operators de facto provided a universally-available offer despite not being covered by universal service obligations.
