A New Telecoms Code For Europe

The European Commission has proposed an ambitious overhaul of EU telecoms rules. Announced concurrently with the State of the (European) Union address of President Juncker, the main objective of these reforms is to encourage investments in very high capacity networks, such as fiber networks and fifth-generation mobile systems ("5G"). By 2025, the Commission wants to make 5G mobile communications systems commercially available in all urban areas and major transport corridors in Europe and ensure that all households have access to internet connectivity offering a download speed of at least 100 Mbps and upgradeable to gigabit speed.

The Commission's intervention is timely, as international benchmarks show that Europe is lagging behind the United States and other developed economies in fast broadband access and needs to do more to attract investments. Market players with infrastructure investment plans will generally find this reform a positive development, although some