The document discusses the role of public policy in promoting broadband access and economic growth in Europe. It notes that broadband access is key to social and economic participation but that there are large gaps in access between countries and regions. While Europe leads in broadband adoption rates, it is falling behind in high-speed broadband. The document outlines EU initiatives to increase broadband access, such as investing €5 billion in broadband infrastructure and setting a target of 30% household access by 2010. Barriers to access include high prices, low coverage in rural areas, and lack of high-speed options.

4. EU Broadband Penetration Rate January 2009 Korea January 2008 43,1 EU US and Canada Japan and 50 100 99,2 81,6 81,6 Broadband lines per region (million)

5. Least expensive Broadband offer for 1Mb access line 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 CY SK LT BG BE PL ES PT RO DK LU MT DE LV UK EE SI FI HU NL IE Total cost per month in €/PPP, VAT included January 07 Price of broadband offers in the EU vary considerably from a country to another: (taking into account PPP - purchase power parity)

6. Broadband penetration gap more and less developed M.S. From 8.5% in 2003 to 18.7% in 2005 and 28 points in 2008 Penetration gap widens : from 3.4 % points in 2003 to 20% points in 2008 8.5% 13.5% 19.2% 25.2% 31.9% 35.6% 7.6% 4.4% 1.4% 0.5% 0.1% 0.0% 3.4 20.0 16.3 12.8 8.6 5.9 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 BB penetration level MAX MIN EU AVERAGE Diference in % points

7. Correlation broadband price/penetration EU 27 Inverse correlation prices/penetration ( higher broadband penetration lower prices) Other factors beyond price affect penetration (coverage, quality of service, income, education, PC penetration, etc. 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 Least expensive price for a 1-2 Mbs monthly broadband access (€/PPP), April 2007 Broadband penetration, July 2007 EL: Out of scale. Data on prices for AT, CZ, IT, FR and SE not available DK SK BG PL RO LT HU LV MT PT SI IE ES EE DE UK BE LU FI NL