Erika Mann MEP - Broadband access in rural areas

Broadband access in rural areas

Quick access to go online is getting more and more important in everyday-life to keep up with the pace in economy, innovation and education. Different broadband-technologies are available for consumers. Yet, some regions still are not hooked to new technologies - there still are some so called "blackspots".

Foto: güneş in wonderland/flickr/CC-Lizenz: BY-NC-SA

"Blackspots"

"Blackspots" throughout Germany can be identified via the "Broadband Guide" of the Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology. It shows a broadband coverage of 97,7% (including any broadband technology from DSL-Light to DSL-2000).

Currently about 700 municipalities in Germany have no acces to DSL. Some additional municipalities are only partly connected to broadband. In some of these regions alternative access can be available.

How to provide full broadband coverage in rural areas?

In principle companies are responsible for providing broadband access to the users. Market forces should be the driving forces in the first place. But it has to be acknowledged that in some areas, especially rural regions full coverage is not guaranteed yet.

Therefore the European Parliament decided to allow EU-funding for setting up broadband networks in the framework of EU-Regional Policy. Since not all municipalities are capable of co-financing these networks (as foreseen by the respective guidelines) it is important to look for individual solutions for those regions which are not yet connected to broadband access. There different technological options alternative to classic DSL-connections which might allow cheaper solutions at good transmission rates.

The European Discussion

Universal Services

Universal services have been to guarantee a certain basic supply with telecommunication tools to everyone. At the moment it is discussed whether broadband should be included into theses universal services (currently telephone and TV are included in the universal services). The discussion on this is quite diverse.

The extension of universal services to broadband could be an elegant solution to guarantee a full coverage over Europe. In the current Telecommunications Review Erika Mann will try to make sure that all convenient options will be assessed. The respective principle in this discussion should be to find a low-priced, efficient and comprehensive solution.

Spectrum

In November 2007 the European Commission published its suggestions for the Review of the telecommunications framework (TK-Review). This "package" includes suggestions on the so called "digital dividend". According to these suggestions the frequency spectrum should be administered more efficient and therefore should be opened to competition. This is supposed to enable a more comprehensive and easier access to frequencies and would also offer the possibility to use available frequencies for wireless broadband access.

Broadband via energy networks

Another option to spread broadband in the "less developed" areas could be via electric cable networks. This technique is not too well known yet in Europe but is in use in different regions in the United States. The German Association of Telecommunications and Value-Added Service Providers (VATM) has one member ("Power PLUS") which is familiar with this technique.

Erika Mann has been in contact with a company in the last years which is offering broadband services via electricity networks. The technology behind it in fact is rather plain. A fibre cable is used to hook the two energy conveyors and broadband is available via the plug.

Further Information