12 Amendments of Raffaele FITTO related to 2016/2305(INI)
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Expresses concern that the EU is lagging behind North America and parts of the Asia-Pacific region when it comes to 4G access and projections for 5G uptake; believes that Europe has much catching up to do as in 2015 more than 75% of the US population had access to 4G, versus only 28% of the EU population; is further concerned that industry predictions show that by 2022 there will be over 110 million 5G subscriptions in North America, versus only 20 million in Western Europe;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Highlights the considerable amount of investment needed to secure a gigabit society and the challenges this poses for investors, operators and service providers; points out that in the next decade an additional EUR 155 billion is required to deliver gigabit connectivity for the Digital Single Market; acknowledges the critical importance of further investment to lower unit prices for consumers; industry research shows that upwards of 90% of unit price per megabyte decline is delivered by investment as opposed to static effects such as competition; notes that by using a price per megabyte measure the US is a considerably cheaper market for consumers than Europe; believes that an average revenue per user (ARPU) measure can be misleading given that this does not convey the faster speeds, larger data packages, or unlimited offers used by US consumers;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Notes that in total the European Structural and Investment Funds will contribute €21.4 billion towards securing the digital single market in the current programming period, including €6 billion for the roll out of high speed broadband networks; acknowledges the importance of these public funds in achieving the Commission's goals but believes that significantly more capital will need to be leveraged from the private sector if the continent is to secure an additional €155 billion of investment over the next decade;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission to ensure that Member States, local authorities and other partners are able to engage with the complex range of grants, financial instruments and public-private partnerships that are available for connectivity projects; sees the value in the establishment of an online resource which enables infrastructure investors to review the full range of funding options which are available; acknowledges the establishment of the Broadband Fund but urges the EIB and the Commission to focus efforts on improving existing programmes that support the IT sector, such as Horizon 2020, rather than creating new ones;
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Acknowledges that revenues across the telecoms industry are dwindling and that this poses a significant problem for further investment to achieve a gigabit society; financing for deals is strongly linked to share prices and in this respect loans, bonds and other financial instruments can be secured when an investment has a guaranteed return over a long-term period; further calls on the Commission to look further at how local authorities and other service providers can enter the market to provide specialised services under alternative business models;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Calls on the Commission to undertake further analysis of the demand for 5G technology given that this area has been insufficiently examined and is subject to considerable difference of opinion; notes that the Commission's primary study into this issue was undertaken by a technology research consultancy; asks in particular for more consultation with academia and infrastructure investors in order to get a reliable picture of future 5G demand; believes that the Commission should undertake and publish a literature review which aggregates all available studies of European 5G demand into a single research paper;
Amendment 72 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5 c. Observes that due to their remote location rural areas are unlikely to feel the same benefits from the gigabit society that are felt in cities; asserts the belief that we need resolute ambition for rural areas when it comes to the gigabit society, believes that a focus should be placed on the rolling out of existing technologies such as 4G in the countryside, rather than just focusing on the next generation; expresses concern that 5G technology is currently untenable except in densely populated areas and that this will further increase the digital divide; recognises that because investing in rural areas requires a significantly higher proportion of investment per head this means rural areas risk getting left behind; notes that the digital divide means that while 58% of the EU's population live in rural, remote and mountainous areas, only 25% of these are covered by speeds above 30 mbps; recognises therefore that the Commission's target of at least 100 Mbps download speeds by 2025 for all households, both rural and urban, is extremely ambitious;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5 d. Believes that it's important for member states to continue tailoring their regulation to national and local circumstances; is therefore troubled by proposed reforms to the body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) which would turn the organisation into a decentralized EU agency with permanent staff chairing expert working groups; is also concerned that the Commission will gain the power of veto over national regulatory authorities' (NRAs) regulatory remedies, as well as the Commission's proposals to introduce implementing acts into the new Code which will allow top down measures to resolve cross border disputes; believes that it is NRAs who are best placed to design, implement and review telecoms decisions; believes that up until now BEREC has played a proportionate role ensuring harmonisation across Europe and that these reforms risk upsetting this balance;
Amendment 76 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 e (new)
Paragraph 5 e (new)
5 e. Recommends that the EU Commission pursues a policy of technology neutrality when it comes to pursuing a gigabit society; believes that technology choices should primarily be left to the markets' participants in order to ensure that the realities of demand are met; further supports symmetric regulation that does not inhibit the ability of new or smaller companies to enter the market; is therefore concerned about the Commission's proposal which would see NRAs only being able to impose symmetric access obligations when a particular request has been made to them;
Amendment 78 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 f (new)
Paragraph 5 f (new)
5 f. Welcomes the consolidation of four existing directives into a Single Communications Code; believes that simplification and clarification can only help businesses to invest; also welcomes new rules on transparency which will see consumers provided with the most important contract information in a 'short form' document;
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 g (new)
Paragraph 5 g (new)
5 g. Is pleased that the Commission is pushing forward co-investment schemes so operators can share the risks associated with expenditure on very high capacity networks; notes that companies need more certainty on technology that would be included and reassurance that the process of co-investment is conducted in a fair and open manner;
Amendment 82 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 h (new)
Paragraph 5 h (new)
5 h. Believes in the central importance of the availability of spectrum in the roll out of 5G networks across Europe; acknowledges that there is still a great deal of uncertainty within the industry about the spectrum bands that will ultimately be used for 5G technology; notes that there is likely to be huge demand for 5G spectrum, as there currently is for 4G spectrum, which means costs for investors will continue to rise;