On 28 February, the European Commission (EC) released the study, Steps towards a truly Internal Market for e-communications, which seeks to make an assessment of the current conditions of the European Union (EU) Internal Market for electronic communications networks and services and its economic potential up to 2020.
The study demonstrates that if the Internal Market for electronic communications were completed, it could represent an annual gain in gross domestic product (GDP) of 110 billion euros, the equivalent of over 0.8% of GDP. Electronic communications represent a critical part of overall efforts to build a digital Single Market.
This "digital bonus" for EU growth would result from more competition, increased economies of scale for telecom operators, and the chance for every European to access all online content and services throughout the EU, such as music, movies and video games.
The study, developed by an international group of experts and academics, suggests three main types of policy measures to tackle obstacles:
- reduced regulatory fragmentation (e.g. common rules on contract duration and transparency of bills);
- more European standardisation (to allow pan-European services of assured quality to emerge in areas such as e-Health, e-Energy, e-Mobility);
- the need for more coordination of the activities of national telecoms regulators at EU level.
The entry into force of revised EU telecoms rules in May 2011 represent an opportunity for the EC to re-assess the impact of EU policies in the light of their initial objectives. Liberalisation of the sector has been a major success but there is still scope for much more progress in the development of the internal market for telecommunications.
Consult:
- Steps towards a truly Internal Market for e-communications https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1121276
Further information:
- Digital Agenda: €110bn jackpot on offer for completing e-Communications Single Market http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/12/193&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
