Satellite
operators
offer
new
Commissioner
help
to
enable
100%
coverage
to
EU
citizens
9
February
2010
The
European
Satellite
Operators
Association
(ESOA)
welcomed
the
European
Parliament’s
approval
of
Neelie
Kroes
as
the
new
Commissioner
for
the
Digital
Agenda
portfolio.
During
her
confirmation
hearings
in
January,
Ms
Kroes
identified
the
provision
of
safe
and
secure
broadband
access
to
100
percent
of
Europeans
as
one
of
the
key
building
blocks
for
her
next
five-year
term.
ESOA
has
offered
to
support
the
new
Commissioner
in
coming
a
few
steps
closer
to
achieving
this
objective.
“Satellite
technology
is
unique
in
that
it
can
provide
immediate
connectivity
to
the
Internet
backbone,
especially
to
those
areas
in
Europe
lacking
commercial
interest
for
terrestrial
operators.”
said
Aarti
Holla,
Secretary
General
of
ESOA.
“Satellite
infrastructure
is
already
in
place
and
more
capacity
will
be
launched
this
year
but
we
still
need
public
support,
both
at
EU
and
Member
State
level,
to
overcome
the
obstacles
preventing
isolated
citizens
from
becoming
part
of
the
21st
century
information
society.”
The
latest
figures
published
by
the
European
Commission
on
broadband
coverage
show
that
the
EU
is
still
far
from
reaching
the
100
percent
connection
goal.
Although
progress
has
been
made,
DSL
for
example
-
the
dominant
means
of
enabling
high-speed
connectivity
in
Europe
-
has
yet
to
close
a
pronounced
gap
between
urban
and
rural
areas.
Close
to
10
million
households
in
Europe
are
not
covered
by
any
kind
of
terrestrial
broadband
solutions.
As
Aarti
Holla
explained,
“today,
the
political
focus
is
on
high-speed
Internet,
which
suggests
that
most
networks
need
upgrading
to
provide
speeds
that
are
today
not
generally
available.
This
technocratic
approach
inevitably
pushes
one
technology
that
is
identified
as
the
only
one
capable
of
doing
the
job:
fibre.
This
means
that
those
who
still
have
no
connectivity
at
all
risk
remaining
without
it
for
even
longer
as
rolling-out
fibre
to
everyone
is
likely
to
take
20-30
years
and
require
over
€100
billion
of
public
funding.
Only
a
mixture
of
technologies
will
achieve
100%
coverage
in
any
acceptable
timeframe
and
at
a
reasonable
cost.”
According
to
ESOA’s
estimates,
satellites
are
in a
position
to
connect
over
a
million
extra
business
and
households
in
rural
areas
by
the
end
of
this
year
making
a
significant
contribution
to
bridging
the
existing
digital
divide.
“We
look
forward
to
making
the
case
for
the
satellite
solution
to
Commissioner
Kroes
in
the
coming
weeks,”
said
ESOA’s
Secretary
General.
Spanish
Presidency
Spain,
which
has
taken
over
the
EU
presidency
for
the
first
half
of
the
year,
has
set
a
Telecommunications
work-programme
which
can
contribute
greatly
to
accomplish
the
goal
set
by
Ms
Kroes.
Its
intention
is
to
extend
the
provision
of
universal
service
requirements
to
broadband
Internet.
If
the
plan
is
approved,
it
will
make
compulsory
for
member
states
to
guarantee
that
this
type
of
service
is
available
all
across
their
territory.
“Spain
can
set
an
excellent
example
of
how
a
collaboration
between
space
and
earth
based
technologies
can
be
instrumental
in
enabling
communication
services
to
evolve
to
their
fullest
potential”,
Aarti
Holla
said.
“Thanks
to
the
Broadband
Extension
Programme
(PEBA
in
Spanish),
which
paid
special
attention
to
the
use
of
satellite
technology
to
serve
the
most
remote
and
isolated
areas
in
the
country,
satellite
access
has
recently
increased
in
Spain
delivering
broadband
to
8.4
percent
of
the
population
in
rural
areas
according
to
the
most
recent
OECD
data.”
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