The future of broadband policy, part 2 : technological neutrality, path dependency and public financing

Abstract

In September, 2016, the European Commission published its plan to renew the regulatory framework for electronic communication services in the European Union. In addition to providing an answer to the need to modify rules in order to take due account of the massive technological and market developments of the last decade, this series of the Commission’s initiatives (the Connectivity Package) appears to be driven by at least two major policy objectives. First, to create a regulatory environment that is able to boost the realisation of an effective and economically flourishing Digital Single Market in the EU. Second, to achieve ambitious connectivity targets by 2025.