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EU broadband funds receive cautious welcome
The European Commission has agreed to co-finance Europe's long-awaited transition from copper to faster fibre-based telecom and internet networks while industry worries that EU funds could weaken investors' appetite for risk.
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Italian telco regulator tries to outwit Commission
In an attempt to flex its regulatory muscles, the European Commission has scolded Italian telecoms for its planned pricing model. But the Italian national regulator may have already outwitted its EU boss.
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Commission faces ‘fistfight’ on broadband pricing
Companies still reeling from a fight over contested EU regulation on access to fibre networks now face an even bigger battle over how much smaller telecommunications operators will have to pay their bigger rivals to use their networks, industry sources reveal.
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EU eyes mobile revenues to fund fibre investment
The European Commission is set to ask national telecoms authorities to slash the wholesale fees operators charge one another for mobile calls or text messages (SMS) as a means of supporting investment in optical fibre networks, which underpin the high-speed Internet.
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Telecom giants scramble over fibre networks
As the European Commission prepares new guidelines to deploy high-speed fibre cables across the EU, major telecom operators are recommending an approach similar to mobile telephony, based on competing networks. But such a move is rejected by new market entrants, who argue against duplicating expensive infrastructure.
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Jury out on EU’s high-speed Internet plan
The telecoms industry is not convinced that the EU has found the right solution to spur investment in next generation networks like fibre cables, as draft documents seen by EURACTIV unveil the European Commission's plan for high-speed Internet.
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Super-fast Internet to stumble on lack of investment
The EU's move to high-speed broadband will stumble on a lack of investment if the EU does not change its laws governing access to networks, Europe's biggest Internet providers and their equipment providers are arguing.
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French mayors call for faster high-speed Internet roll-out
According to a new survey, the mayors of rural France overwhelmingly want very high-speed Internet coverage made available to their towns long before the French government's current plans would allow. EURACTIV France reports.
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EU to open radio frequencies to wireless broadband
As more telecoms companies seek precious radio spectrum, the EU has decided to put wireless broadband at the front of the queue in order to reach 100% Internet penetration by 2013.
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Kroes’s high-speed Internet plan faces obstacles
Neelie Kroes, the European Union's Digital Agenda commissioner, proposed a number of measures yesterday (20 September) aimed at boosting high-speed Internet across Europe. But her plan faces opposition from some member states and key industry groups.
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Kroes: Cloud can deliver digital growth
European institutions and governments should throw their weight behind joint procurement of computing services to encourage the use of cloud computing, says Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes.
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Internet guru: Digital self-organisation will spur growth
Beneath the current gloomy economic perspective in Europe, there is underlying opportunity, says Internet guru Don Tapscott. But in order to unleash this, companies, individuals and governments must embrace the transforming power of digital innovation, he told EURACTIV.
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Huawei Exec.: Tension between technology and privacy hampers industry
A new industry standard is on its way for smart home technology, but there are other challenges facing the industry, notably the clash between technology and privacy, according to Huawei’s standards expert Richard Brennan.
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The world’s most powerful join the digital revolution
G8 leaders face the difficult challenge of both maintaining freedom on the Internet and coming up with appropriate regulations on child protection and intellectual property rights, writes European Commissioner Neelie Kroes.
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A regulatory remedy for European broadband
A regulatory remedy for European broadband
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Digital agenda: Connecting the EU
High-speed Internet for all - including on mobile phones - and lower consumer prices are the main highlights of the European Commission's digital agenda, a five-year plan to ensure higher connectivity for EU citizens and business.
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Europe lagging broadband benefits
Broadband technology is boosting GDP globally - especially in the developing world - but Europe remains the only continent where telecommunications business is running at a loss, according to speakers at the Mobile World Congress.
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Industry accepts responsibility for security fears over cloud
Threats to cyber security and privacy are real and must be addressed by industry as cloud computing pushes technology into a hyper-connected phase, senior telecommunications executives warned at the Mobile World Congress.
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Single ‘smart’ technology standard on horizon
The first step to create a new single industry standard for smart homes and grids capable of offering energy savings and health monitoring is set to be made in Tokyo next month, EURACTIV has been told.
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EU on track to miss super-fast internet roll-out targets
Europe’s broadband internet coverage is close to 100%, but super-fast connections remain marginal and well behind the EU's official target despite the rhetoric surrounding the benefits of the digital economy.
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Europe, US lag developing world in eHealth
Despite Europe´s huge broadband coverage and smartphone use compared to the developing world, the continent is lagging in eHealth solutions because costing models do not encourage innovation, the leading global telecoms conference heard yesterday (27 February).
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Trichet urges strengthening of monetary union
Europe could strengthen its monetary union by giving European politicians the power to declare a sovereign state bankrupt and take over its fiscal policy, the former head of the European Central Bank said yesterday (17 May) in unveiling a bold proposal to salvage the euro.