Broadband-ready

The European Commission (EC) may establish that broadband internet access is "a universal right" during a review of its Universal Service Obligations (USO) for the region's telecoms companies.

Fixed line standards for "functional internet access" are now set at dial-up speed (28.8 kilobits per second), but may be re-written to force telecom firms to make broadband available to all, reports the BBC.

Between 2003 and 2007, broadband use in its member nations tripled to 36 percent of households, with a 20 percent annual growth rate, said the EC.

But coverage varied greatly from country to country: for example, 100 percent of Belgium, Luxembourg, and Denmark's population can get broadband if they want it, but only 60 percent of Romanians have the same opportunity.

Germany and Italy — though they have booming broadband sectors — lack broadband access for 12 percent of their population.

The EC wants to "make broadband internet happen" for all Europeans by 2010, said EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding.

"High-speed internet is the passport to the passport to the Information Society and an essential condition for economic growth," she said.