Acknowledging the importance of high-speed broadband roll-out, Member States have endorsed the ambitious broadband targets set out in the Communication from the Commission entitled ‘The Digital Agenda for Europe — Driving European growth digitally’ (‘the Digital Agenda’), namely to bring basic broadband to all Europeans by 2013, and to ensure that, by 2020, all Europeans have access to much higher internet speeds of above 30 Mbps and 50 % or more of Union households subscribe to internet connections above 100 Mbps.

- (ET) The passage of a legal framework enables us to consolidate for citizens of the European Union the advances that have been made in the area of high-speed permanent Internet connections and wireless communications and the development of services with high added value, and achieve 100% coverage with broadband Internet.

59. Stresses the difference between theoretical network speeds and actual user experience since the user experience is also linked to website capacity and congestion etc; calls on the Commission in conjunction with BEREC to refine its measurements of delivered broadband speeds and adjust its targets accordingly, and calls on BEREC to develop EU guidelines to ensure that advertised broadband speeds appropriately reflect the average up- and download speeds users can actually expect and to ensure comprehensive consumer information about the services offered, in order to secure transparency on the benefits of new technology, promote comparability and enhance co ...[+++]mpetition; asks BEREC to ensure that typical broadband speeds experienced by consumers are advertised fairly in the interests of transparency on the benefits of new technology for upload and download; calls on NRAs to take measures against providers that do not comply with BEREC recommendations;

4. Considers therefore that the objective must be to establish EU global leadership in ICT infrastructure; in order to achieve this objective, 100% of basic broadband coverage must be delivered to all Europeans by 2013, giving at least 2Mbps service to all users in rural areas and much higher speeds to users in other areas; draws the Commission's attention to the fact that, in order to counter a digital divide, basic coverage in rural areas will need to take account of increasing transmission requirements for innovative internet services such as e-government, e-health or e-learning; takes the view that, when considering how such targe ...[+++]ts should be funded, utmost account should be taken of competition in order to avoid market distortions and to allow the market to deliver solutions in the first instance;

The most frequently reported practices mentioned by respondents to the consultation involve untruthful information on the main characteristics and/or on the price of the product or service offered for sale in the areas of internet and telecommunication services (e.g. broadband speed), financial services (e.g. consumer credit, life insurance), tourism (e.g. accommodation services including credit card fees in respect of hotels, timeshare and related products), air transport and e-commerce.

In July 2000, the Commission proposed a new package on electronic communications, which particularly stresses the need to facilitate high-speed Internet access – while keeping costs down – and to develop a legislative framework which is not too burdensome for operators in the sector.