23 January, 2013

Press release: ETNO welcomes Irish EU Presidency and calls for support of the Connecting Europe Facility

BRUSSELS – On the occasion of a meeting today with Irish Presidency representatives, ETNO underlined its support of the Irish Presidency’s main priorities of establishing stability, jobs and growth, and insisted on the need to enable the telecoms sector to fully play its role as a driver of growth and welfare for Europe’s economy and society as a whole.

“ETNO believes in the potential of the Connecting Europe Facility as a long term financial instrument for cross-border infrastructure deployment and as driver for the digital single market.  We call on the Irish Presidency to safeguard the aim of the CEF proposal, as a financial instrument that leverages infrastructure investments, and to avoid a reduction of the fund allocated for telecoms networks which would seriously endanger the effectiveness of the facility and limit its impact on the overall EU economy”, says Luigi Gambardella, ETNO Executive Board Chair.

ETNO also welcomed the Irish Presidency’s objective of reinforcing the digital single market and encouraged a sense of urgency in the adoption of the European Commission’s Regulation on Data Protection which will contribute towards achieving a truly harmonised framework for privacy throughout the EU and a level playing field between all actors within the ICT value chain.

 “Ireland has made the digital single market a key priority in its presidency programme and aims to deliver substantive progress on a number of important dossiers. Digital is an important platform for economic growth and prosperity. It also has the power to transform the way citizens interact, which is particularly relevant in 2013, European year of the Citizen. It is our intention to highlight the importance of the Digital Agenda and advance its implementation throughout our Presidency. This is vitally important so that citizens and business can realize the full potential of a truly digital society”, declared the Irish Presidency representative.

ETNO also asked the Irish Presidency to support the new approach of the European Commission for the regulatory environment for broadband investment, with the forthcoming adoption of the EC Recommendation on costing and non-discrimination being the first step on that path.

 “The year 2013 should lead to a new regulatory paradigm, building on the new approach announced in 2012, allowing for more flexibility for operators to develop new offers while at the same time guaranteeing competition and choice. New business models based on differentiated offers tailored to consumer needs could generate additional annual revenue of up to €12 billion, which in turn will address the huge need for investment in new infrastructure”, says Daniel Pataki, ETNO Director.