European Digital Agenda Conference in Brussels on October 3rd

A conference on the European Digital Agenda is held in Brussels on Monday 3 October. At the conference, several CEOs of Europe's largest telecommunications companies are present. The position of the telecom companies is clear: no net neutrality, it ruins a sustainable digital society.

The aim of the conference is to start up a dialogue between all actors in the internet ecosystem to debate how to allow innovative services to be launched, how the current commercial model may need to evolve and how new revenues can be generated to justify infrastructure investments. The conference will also address how policy makers can play a role in supporting initiatives to create a viable and sustainable digital environment.

As the European Digital Agenda states, the internet is increasingly changing our daily life. The internet is important for the industrial sector and contributes to the societal challenges such as climate change and the ageing population. High performance networks providing fast access to innovative, quality services and products are essential for the success of the Digital Agenda for Europe.

To achieve high performance networks, the Digital Agenda proposes the following: a new balance is essential to make sure that the players who generate large amounts of data traffic, also contribute to investments in the infrastructure. Without clear economic and investment incentives, network congestion will increasingly affect innovation and growth, according to the Digital Agenda.

The decisions taken at the conference may affect the way the internet is developed and used. Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for the European Digital Agenda, will give a presentation at the conference about developing a sustainable digital society.

References: The Financial Times, Fast Net News

By: Karen Groen