ECTA Ultra-Fast Broadband Conference with Neelie Kroes - Montesquieu Instituut

Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda will hold a keynote speech at this conference, organised by the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA). Some of the topics that will be discussed include: Do we need industrial policy to achieve Digital Agenda targets? Will the market deliver the Commission's broadband targets on its own or should policy-makers be more pro-active? Should we favour fibre-to-the-home or be technology neutral? Should pricing be used to incentivise investment in NGA? Should policy-makers favour "infrastructure competition" or a "one-network" approach? Delft University of Technology will present new research and other high-level stakeholders from industry and regulators debate the pros and cons of different approaches. Access pricing and non-discrimination: How could proposed new rules from the European Commission on access pricing and non-discrimination affect ultra-fast broadband deployment. Could entrants win the fibre race? Infrastructure competition and technologies: where are the limits? Enabling fibre roll-out: financing and demand - exchange of views with equity and bond investors and infrastructure funds on factors influencing investment decisions. Ownership, separation and equivalence: an assessment of outcomes achieved through different models ranging from functional separation in the UK, to "independent” utility fibre investors, to Government as the network owner to co-investment by multiple telcos.