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Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
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Competitive global europe needs a broadband europe
Ahead of tomorrow's European Council meeting in Brussels on the Electronic Communications & Networks Framework, Minister for Communications, Technology & Broadcasting, Stephen Carter, said:
"Tomorrow's meeting is an important moment for the telecommunications industry and for consumers, but a critical one for broadband, and we warmly welcome the decision by the French Presidency and the European commission to put universal broadband onto Europe's agenda.
"We have a number of aims for this Council meeting, but key among them has been getting the issue of broadband for all onto the table.
"Europe needs to consider how best to ensure universal availability and access, not just by connection but also by device, to affordable broadband internet, which is already a central service for millions of people across Europe. It is crucial to the way many of us go about our lives and daily business, and increasingly the means of delivering good public services cost effectively."
"With Digital Switchover already creating a universal terrestrial digital broadcasting infrastructure in the UK and several other European countries, it is now time for Europe, metaphorically and also perhaps literally, to consider digging or at least opening up the trenches for universal access for broadband." The Minister added "whether by wire, satellite or any other means, broadband is the crucial underpinning for a competitive global Europe."
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