EXPLORING
THE GLOBAL DYNAMICS OF BROADBAND INTERNET’ was the catchy title of a
conference held in Athens to expound the virtues of getting fast online
connections up and running as soon as possible. EU Commissioner Viviane
Reding quoted a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) which ‘showed that broadband boosted employment by almost 1.5%’
and praised the Scottish example where private business is expected to
benefit to the tune of €10 billion by 2015 due to the installation of
the faster, always on, internet. A recent Eurobarometer survey
confirmed that EU citizens were increasingly turning to broadband
(installed in 28% of households), which is most common in the
Netherlands and Denmark, and wireless connection (wi-fi) now used by
35% of homes with the internet, up from 27% last year. This is most
common in Luxembourg, Spain and France.
| She contrasted this with the state of
affairs in the host nation where there were only 4.4 broadband lines
per 100 inhabitants (EU average 16.9) and a service was only available
to 19% of Greeks as opposed to about 90% of people throughout the whole
of Europe. Recognising the mountainous and island geography of the
country she recommended the use of wireless connections and praised the
government’s ambitious plans to cover 60% of Greece’s land area and 90%
of the population by 2008 at a cost of €210 million. However she warned
that Greece |
 |
had
a lot of catching up to do. By
the time the plans had
come to fruition the definition of broadband as anything going faster
than 144 Kilobits per second would be obsolete: ‘In a few years time -
before 2010 - the minimum acceptable speed will be around 20Mbs
[Megabits per second] in both directions and rising’, she said.
For the Greek government, transport and communications minister Mihalis
Liapis. echoed the Commissioner’s stress on the economic importance of
fast internet connections which was why 2007 had been designated
‘Broadband Year’ in Greece. |
|
Broadband internet access from
E-Communications Household Survey, 2007 |
|
EMF launches
workers’ blog
THE EUROPEAN METALWORKERS’ FEDERATION (EMF) has launched a new weapon
in its campaign to give workers at General Motors an independent voice.
It has created a web page specifically for employees to record their
comments in the form of a web log (blog). Postings can be made from
around the world and the page will contain pictures and files uploaded
by members as well as comments. When the European Review visited the
page it included images from the recent ‘European Action day for
General Motors’ from Sweden, Germany, Hungary and Spain. There were
comments in English, Flemish, German, Swedish, Russian, Polish and
Portuguese. Hot topics included management’s plan to close the Antwerp
plant and the allocation of the manufacture of new models.
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