The European Commission’s Digital Agenda VP Neelie Kroes is concerned that 21 member states could miss a deadline to offer satellite broadband services across the union by May.
Governments in these countries, ranging from Belgium to the UK, are being…
The European Commission’s Digital Agenda VP Neelie Kroes is concerned that 21 member states could miss a deadline to offer satellite broadband services across the union by May.
Governments in these countries, ranging from Belgium to the UK, are being urged to accelerate legislative processes to ensure they meet an agreement to allow Inmarsat and Solaris Mobile to provide pan-European mobile satellite services.
“Member states should urgently take all measures necessary to allow the introduction of mobile satellite services throughout the EU,” said Kroes in a statement dated 17 February.
“Mobile satellite services have an important role to play in providing innovative services to businesses and citizens across Europe, including in rural or remote areas, and in meeting our Digital Agenda targets of making broadband available to everyone in Europe.” According to the EC, the member states that still have legal uncertainties and a lack of sufficient implementation measures are: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and the UK.
Inmarsat and Solaris Mobile, which were selected on 13 May 2009 to provide the pan-EU services, have also been urged to step up their efforts to facilitate MSS deployment.
A spokeswoman for Kroes declined to comment further, except to confirm she had written to the companies in January.
Speaking to analysts after posting full year 2010 results, Romain Bausch, president and CEO of SES, which owns half of Solaris alongside Eutelsat, said: “Solaris has got licences from most of the large countries but for many of the other countries there are still things to be done.” Bausch continued: “Solaris is exploring with potential investors the terrestrial part of it, which is the next step in the development of its services. Solaris is investing and will only invest in the space segment and will form a partnership with terrestrial operators who are interested in using the frequency band on the ground alongside the satellite.”
