EU eyes proposals to boost broadband availability

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Access to broadband Internet has increased in the European Union to 90 million lines, but the bloc should act to increase competition and tackle EU states that are lagging behind, the EU's top telecoms official said on Monday.

Broadband access in the EU's 25 oldest member states -- excluding Romania and Bulgaria -- increased by 28.7 percent from July 2006 to July 2007, the European Commission said.

Increasing the availability of broadband is seen by the EU's executive as a key step to boosting economic growth by helping smaller businesses work better.

Broadband access was the highest in Denmark (37.2 percent) and the Netherlands (33.1 percent), while it is only 5.7 percent in Bulgaria, and 6.6 percent in Romania, according to EU figures published on Monday.

The Commission said the gap was widening slightly.

"It is unacceptable that the gap between the strongest and weakest performers in Europe is growing. Europe must act now to get its broadband house in order," EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said in a statement.

She said she would make specific proposals as part a package of reforms of EU telecom rules on 13 November

"Lack of competition and regulatory weaknesses are cited as the main obstacles to broadband growth," the Commission said in the statement.

Reding has said she will propose to give all national telecoms regulators the power to separate the network and business arms of operators in case of serious competition problems.

She also wants a new pan-EU regulator to be able to impose competition remedies on a national regulator, jointly with the Commission, if Brussels is not happy with the way a national regulator handles a problem.