Deal on faster fibre rollout across Europe

Early this morning, negotiators from the European Parliament and the Member States agreed on the EU-Gigabit Infrastructure Act, a new law to speed up the expansion of fibre connections across Europe.
 
"Let’s stop having a bad or no internet connection. We need to accelerate the rollout of fibre across Europe. The EU-Gigabit Infrastructure Act will make an important contribution to this. Existing infrastructure needs to be shared, thereby increasing competition and enabling the faster and cheaper deployment of high-performance networks. At the same time, we are trying to limit bureaucracy for cities and municipalities and speed up approval procedures. It was particularly important for us to take into account the situation of smaller and rural communities. Many of them have already invested independently in fibre expansion – this pioneering work will be rewarded," says Angelika Winzig MEP, the lead negotiator for the EPP Group.

"We also agreed to extend the price caps for intra-EU calls and text messages until 2029, after which surcharges will be abolished. This is a logical next step after the abolition of roaming charges. At the same time, we are giving telecoms operators planning certainty. The Single Digital Market cannot be built in a day and companies need some time to adapt,” adds Winzig, who also previously negotiated the legislation on roaming on behalf of the European Parliament.
 
Today's informal agreement still needs to be formally approved by EU Member States and the European Parliament.