Workshop 1: Models to Support Investment in the Network Infrastructure in Europe: What is the Way Forward?
Rapporteur: Francesco Vecchi
The Digital ecosystem backbone is composed of very High Capacity fixed and mobile comms physical infrastructures connecting all different type of actors in the whole ecosystem. Network infrastructures promote innovation with positive externalities, especially to industry, society level), while utilities and business are highly regulated by competition and consumer protection laws. Actually, connectivity remains an industrial policy target from both the quantitative and qualitative point of view. Speaking of revenues, data shows that they depend on the decreasing prices and this economic dynamics bring the average investment per capita in the EU to be lower than in other parts of the world. Finally, the EU has a structured regulatory system ensuring competitive access and neutrality rules, with the effect of prohibitin commercial and technical discrimination
The OECD remarks the importance of looking at Network Infrastructures from a holistic point of view and focusing on its overall objective. As a matter of fact, without connectivity there is no digital transformation and, consequently, universal coverage and high-quality connectivity are needed. Two trends are shaping the current market. First, communication operators are playing a major role in providing connectivity, and the OECD is monitoring their financial performance. Most importantly, tower companies are mainly investing in rural and remote areas rather than urban centres. On the other hand, publicly listed tech companies preferably invest in data centers, thus producing an additional source of investment.
ETNO points out that IoT traffic, connecting devices, eGovernment services represent other crucial issues for the current digital transition. The EU wants every citizen to be connected to 5G by 2030, to support the consistent growth of content (estimated between 20-30% each year until 2030). In this perspective, there are still several gaps to fill, especially when it comes to coverage and capacity, as well as going towards more software rather than hardware defined infrastructures. To face this transition, new solutions must be found, such as different investment models, more margings, more competition in platform players, and a sustainable financial capacity. All in all, it is important to remark that prices cannot be increased because the market is already highly regulated.
However, what is at stake is more than interconnection: it is also neutrality. Indeed, the Internet is based on the concept of permissionless innovation: as long as one speaks the internet protocol, it is possible to propose innovations without legal or public permission. Actually, the internet is not precisely public: peering transit, internet exchanges and private internet are all run by non-pubic players. And all those players have their own data storage and other infrastructures. Finally, speaking of 5G, laws of physics are not a social construct: 5G connectivity performances are bound by the speed of light and, at some point, increasing the speed of cables is not enough and the distance must be shrunk. As a consequence, it is important to push services to the edges.
Finally, there was a discussion over price increases, customer protection, and internet fragmentation. Still, though admitting an increase in individual customers’ prices, the overall impact would be positive since other services prices would be balanced. Also, the internet fragmentation is due to several causes, but redirecting traffic could lead to Internet quality problems.
Recent Comments on this Site
3rd July 2023 at 2:58 pm
I agree with Michael’s comment.
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3rd July 2023 at 2:56 pm
This first message makes no sense. Please take into consideration the comment made by Torsen.
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3rd July 2023 at 2:37 pm
3 The Ukrainian Internet resilience is impossible without worldwide cooperation, help and support. There are very good examples of such cooperation, and not very good. These lessons also have to be documented and analysed.
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3rd July 2023 at 12:14 am
In responding to the points around the impact encryption, I would ask that the comments I made around the UK’s Online Safety Tech Challenge Fund and academic paper by Ian Levy and Crispin Robinson are added to the key messages.
I referenced a paper by Ian Levy and Crispin Robinson, two internationally respected cryptographers from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, which set out possible solutions to detecting child sexual abuse within End-to-End Encrypted Environments that companies could be exploring to balance both the rights to privacy and the rights of children to grow up in a safe and secure environment free from child sexual abuse.
The link to the paper is copied below:
[2207.09506] Thoughts on child safety on commodity platforms (arxiv.org)
And the UK Safety Tech Challenge Fund:
Lessons from Innovation in Safety Tech: The Data Protection Perspective – Safety Tech (safetytechnetwork.org.uk)
It is important that we balance the concerns about the breaking of encryption, with the possibilities that should be being explored to prevent child sexual abuse from entering or leaving these environments.
Andrew Campling also made points about the right to privacy not being an absolute right and the need to balance this right, with other rights- another point I think that is worth reflecting in this final paragraph.
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3rd July 2023 at 12:00 am
I agree with the amendment Torsten has proposed to the initial text.
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2nd July 2023 at 11:58 pm
I would be careful about saying these images have been created consensually. Just because an image is “self-generated” it does not mean it has been created through “sexting”. Children are being “groomed” and “coerced” into creating these images as well.
I agree- however, with the rewritten text above regarding what companies currently do and what they will be required to do if the EU proposal becomes law and is clearer than what was written in the initial text.
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2nd July 2023 at 3:21 pm
The Internet has changed how war is fought, and how it is covered by media. At
the same time, the war has put “One world, one Internet” to a stress test. The foundations of global and interoperable Internet should not be affected by the deepening geopolitical divide, even though it has fragmented the content layer.
No one has the right to disrupt the global network that exists as a result of voluntary cooperation by thousands of networks. The mission of Internet actors is to promote and uphold the network, and to help restore it if destroyed by armed aggression.
The war has been accompanied by heightened weaponization of the content layer of the Internet. New EU legislation is expected to curb at least the role of very large platforms in spreading disinformation and hate speech.
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2nd July 2023 at 2:36 pm
I kindly suggest the following changes:
Please add these two important points that were said by the speakers/audience:
– There is an initiative on the Nordic level to protect children from the harms of the Internet, and this initiative has already been promulgated into legislation in Denmark.
– As the role of parents is crucial in educating children to use the Internet in a savvy way, also parents need education. That’s why we need adult education also from beyond the formal education system, just like the adult education system in Finland already provides training in basic digital skills.
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2nd July 2023 at 2:35 pm
I kindly suggest the following changes:
– governs => governments
– Replace this: ”Therefore, the contemporary political landscape requires three-level trust: political power; knowledge organisations; and individual.”
– By this:
– ”Therefore, the contemporary political landscape requires three levels of trust: trust in basic societal functions and structures of the society, trust in knowledge organizations, and trust between one another as individuals.”
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2nd July 2023 at 2:32 pm
I kindly suggest the following changes:
Replace this: ”Thus, one of the key priorities is to enhance citizens digital literacy and education going beyond only digital competencies and including cultural aspects.”
with this: ”Thus, one of the key priorities is to enhance citizens’ digital literacy and education by going beyond just digital competencies and including also ethical, social and cultural dimensions.”
Add this important point that was said by the speaker: Responsibility for digital information literacy education lies not only with the formal education system, but also cultural institutions, NGOs, youth work play a key role.
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