A few days ago, I was invited to speak at an EU’s expert panel regarding the rollout of High Speed Internet
connections in Europe. For a commercial and consumer oriented type like myself, it was surprising to hear that most of the discussions regarding how to secure high speed internet access rollout in Europe are mainly about the“level 1” issues. In other words, most of the discussions circle around ducts, digging, rights, regulation and funding. Even though this critically important, it is my experience that these subjects only represent a subset of issues in need to be resolved to get high speed internet to all Europeans. In a market like the Danish, where FTTH has been rolled out over the past 8 years, the discussion about the “level 1” issues goes on but other and equally important also demand our attention. Examples of these other issues include how to regulate access to
video content, as content is often times an important driver for take-up of high speed interconnections. Also, consumer transparency and marketing are important issues. Why is it, for example, that it is allowed in Denmark to market internet products with Mbps speeds which are not delivered? In other markets it is not allowed to market something which is not delivered. Imagine, if supermarkets were allowed to sell 0,22 liters of milk and market it as if the carton had 1 liter.
connections in Europe. For a commercial and consumer oriented type like myself, it was surprising to hear that most of the discussions regarding how to secure high speed internet access rollout in Europe are mainly about the“level 1” issues. In other words, most of the discussions circle around ducts, digging, rights, regulation and funding. Even though this critically important, it is my experience that these subjects only represent a subset of issues in need to be resolved to get high speed internet to all Europeans. In a market like the Danish, where FTTH has been rolled out over the past 8 years, the discussion about the “level 1” issues goes on but other and equally important also demand our attention. Examples of these other issues include how to regulate access to
video content, as content is often times an important driver for take-up of high speed interconnections. Also, consumer transparency and marketing are important issues. Why is it, for example, that it is allowed in Denmark to market internet products with Mbps speeds which are not delivered? In other markets it is not allowed to market something which is not delivered. Imagine, if supermarkets were allowed to sell 0,22 liters of milk and market it as if the carton had 1 liter.
