Drishtikone
Broadband Access in Europe for all to become mandatory by 2010. This is going to improve the competitiveness of the area. Remember that the major telecom companies in the US are talking about monitoring and charging for the internet flow in their pipes! I am pretty sure that Europeans will not allow that kind of stuff in their area… in fact their socialist leanings will make it certain that this broadband is practically free. Now, the question is if the flow in the rest of the world is unhindered.. then how will the telecoms in the US charge for the same traffic that flows free elsewhere??
The 25 European Commission member states and nine accession countries have all signed up for a plan that could make accessibility in e-procurement mandatory.
The 34 countries all signed an agreement in Riga, Latvia, on Wednesday, committing themselves to the "Internet for all" action plan, designed to ensure that the most Web-disadvantaged groups can get online.
The EC has now pledged to increase broadband coverage across the continent to 90 percent by 2010. Rural areas are still underserved, according to the Commission, with about 60 percent penetration. Urban areas fare better and are already at the 90 percent mark.
The EC has also committed to putting new measures in place to halve exclusion rates in skills and digital literacy by 2010.
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