Neelie Kroes demands 30Mbit/s coverage by 2020

Vice president of the European Commission for the Digital Agenda says broadband and wireless technology will help lift Europe out of the economic crisis

Vice president of the European Commission for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes has said she wants every European to have 30Mbit/s internet access by 2020.

Speaking at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Kroes said that this can be offered by wireless access where alternatives are unavailable.

"Wireless solutions are essential for getting basic broadband to those in rural areas where wired is not an option.

"I want every European to have 30 Megabit coverage by 2020: and that's where next generation wireless networks will play a very important role.

"Already today, in some places, 4G offers those speeds - if not higher."

She added that many Europeans should benefit from significantly higher access speeds than this in the same time-frame.

"But I also want at least half of Europeans to have ultra-fast access at over 100 Megabits by 2020. Again, it is clear that no single technology will deliver this, no single magic potion will get us there overnight.

"We rather need an intelligent mix of complementary technologies, deployed incrementally, and according to local circumstances."

Kroes cited Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH), cable, Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC), and Long-Term Evolution (LTE) as some of the potential enabling technologies.

She said that while no one technology could hope to provide an immediate leap to these speeds, they will each help with the gradual process of evolution.

"Even technologies which cannot normally deliver 100 Megabits themselves, or cannot do so now in 2012 at any rate, will still help create a virtuous circle of supply and demand.

"European consumers will get used to obtaining better services and higher speeds, which will trigger new bandwidth-hungry applications and services, creating in turn the conditions for financing the competitive networks, wired and wireless, fixed and mobile, of 2020."

She also warned against a 'spectrum-crunch', saying that a wide range of available frequencies would be needed to provide effective wireless broadband for all.

"We must also look at novel ways to share spectrum: so that for example, public and commercial users, or different commercial sectors, can benefit from shared access to the same spectrum bands."