Europe - EC has proposed a regulation to reduce the costs of deploying high-speed broadband infrastructure

The European Commission has proposed new rules to reduce the costs of installing broadband. It estimates savings of 30 per cent, amounting to €40 to €60 billions across the EU.

The built on best practice in Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden and United Kingdom. , but leaves organisational issues very much to the discretion of Member States.

The EC has proposed a draft regulation to the Parliament and the Council. The full text COM(2013) 147 final is to be debated in Parliament and Council.

The Regulation is to address four main problem areas:

• inefficiencies or bottlenecks concerning the use of existing physical infrastructure (such as, for example, ducts, conduits, manholes, cabinets, poles, masts, antennae, towers and other supporting constructions),
• bottlenecks related to co-deployment,
• inefficiencies regarding administrative permit granting, and,
• bottlenecks concerning in-building deployment.

In order to maximise synergies across networks, the regulation is addressed not only to electronic communications network providers but to any owner of physical infrastructures, such as electricity, gas, water and sewage, heating and transport services, suitable to host electronic communications network elements,