European Commission Targets 'Digital Virgins'

The European Commission last week announced a plan to expand broadband access to all European Union citizens by 2013. In commissioner Neelie Kroes's words, the goal is to reach out to people she calls "digital virgins."

Europe's broadband penetration rate is still only 25%, 30% of Europeans have never used the Web, and only 1% of Europeans have ever used a fiberoptic connection, compared to 12% of Japanese and 15% of South Koreans. The biggest problem faced by the EU's telecom economy is that it's still made up of 27 separate countries, run by 27 national regulators with varying degrees of power. Many countries still allow local monopolies to carve up markets, keeping prices artificially high.