Neelie Kroes claims M&As "could help improve European broadband coverage"

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the European telecoms sector can help improve broadband coverage across the continent, according to Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission for the Digital Agenda.

Speaking at the Reuters Technology and Media Summit, Kroes said Europe “needs to get back to the driver’s seat of the digital society” – and that mergers and acquisition may be one way of achieving this goal.

Cross-border consolidation within the telecoms space might enable the resultant larger firms to invest more in mobile and broadband networks, enabling Europe to close the gap which has opened up with other regions like Asia, according to Kroes.

Her broadband plan aims to have fast broadband coverage for everyone by 2020 with half of all households enjoying ultra-fast connections. Fast broadband services are essential, she believes, in order to make use of cloud services. She has called for action to support the speedy uptake of cloud computing in Europe, and has said that the obstacles to cloud adoption, such as standards certification, data protection, interoperability, lock-in, and legal certainty, need to be addressed.

Neelie Kroes will be speaking at the Broadband World Forum 2012 event taking place in Amsterdam on 16-18 October. For more information and to register, please visit http://broadbandworldforum.com