Internet for All Europeans

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An agreement signed by the members of the European Union (EU) will soon make internet accessibility easier for much of its population. The agreement, signed in Riga, Latvia in June 2006, committed the 34 countries to the 'Internet for All' action plan, which is designed to ensure that even the most web-disadvantaged groups can get online. The European Union is planning to extend broadband internet connectivity across the continent to at least 90 percent by 2010.

Understanding Europe's 'Digital Divide'

Various reports by the European Commission indicate a very unequal internet penetration in the different countries in the European Union. Smaller countries like Sweden, Portugal and Denmark show higher internet penetration than other 'advanced economies' like Britain, Germany or even France. The emerging economies like Poland, Romania and Bulgaria have less than one third internet penetration.

The studies suggest that part of the reason behind this is that rural areas have not been given adequate coverage. Findings indicate that internet access in rural areas is more or less 50%, as compared to the 90 percent coverage in urban areas. This is due, in large part to the problems of distance and population scarcity in the rural areas which means limited business opportunities for European ICT companies.

Another angle that the European Union will tackle is the matter of accessibility to all people, especially the disabled who currently are (mostly) unable to access the internet. Some studies suggest that less than 5 percent of the EU public-sector websites can be accessed by the disabled and that around 80 percent of the United Kingdom's disabled people are unable to access the internet.

In other words, the EU initiative is aimed not only at making the internet physically accessible to its citizens, but also at ensuring that everyone will be able to make use of the internet.

The Implications of the EU's 'Internet for All' Plan

EU studies see benefits for companies and citizens on various levels. The effort to expand broadband coverage to even the rural areas of Europe is seen as providing unheard-of business opportunities for companies involved in the hardware side (starting from the providers of fiber optics, cable-modem, DSL, or even wireless or wi-fi) as well as providers of web hosting, e-commerce and other services.

At the same time, the effort will also benefit the millions of European citizens who still have no access to the internet (estimated at over 240 million people), which in itself, implies a major, untapped market for e-commerce enterprises.

Bottom line: the European Union's plans create the foundations for bringing a huge number of consumers into the digital age, in effect, companies and enterprises worldwide (not only in Europe) will soon have the opportunity to market their products and services to these millions of consumers.

Most importantly, the EU is calling for a swift implementation of the program, with major gains being made by 2010 which is less than three years away. This means that companies planning to become a force in the European market must begin planning their marketing strategies right now.

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