The Truth Bar

Rumours suggest that European Commissioner Viviane Reding is willing to continue with her post for the third stint in a row. This has not come as a welcome surprise for some of the internet service providers though.

Reding has been the mastermind behind enforcing the decrease in charges for data roaming that happened recently. The powerful telecom executive does not seem willing to take a break from her campaign of putting the UK in the forefront of the best broadband provider. She is also said to be attempting to hasten the already planned transition to digital TV even before the official date set for it, which would free up the spectrum for mobile broadband.

Reding spoke at the Lisbon Council in Brussels and expressed that the digital dividend could be used in a way that was not only helpful in connecting all parts of the EU with very high speed broadband but also in earning an additional 50bn for the European governments, if they managed to respond quickly. The step would also entail better broadcast as well as an expansion in the choices available for consumers in future.

She believes that all this could be attained only by making a coordinated effort to use the radio spectrum in the best way possible. According to her estimates, for mobile broadband in EU, the benefits from analog TV spectrum would come to between 150bn and 200bn. She also encouraged the members of EU to act before the deadline for digital TV switch-over scheduled for 2012 to attain maximum benefits.