New European broadband and telecoms laws approved by MEPs

It has been announced that the European Parliament has approved new laws that will result in an overhaul of the broadband and telecoms markets across Europe.

According to recent reports a number of new laws that relate to the telecoms and broadband industries have been approved by the European Parliament, and these laws could result in a major shake up of the industry. Member states have been told by the European Parliament that they will have to incorporate the new legislation into their own laws by May of 2011.

One of the areas that was included in the new legislation included internet freedom, and officials have said that this is the first time that this area has been referred to in law in terms of being a fundamental right. The approval of the new legislation comes at a time when there is a huge amount on unrest and controversy across the UK and Europe with regards to plans that will see persistent file sharers being disconnected.

The new legislation also includes other areas of broadband, including goals to make the roll out of mobile broadband across Europe as smooth and efficient as possible. This, according to reports, would help to achieve one hundred percent mobile broadband coverage across Europe by 2013.

Of course, one of the most controversial areas of the new legislation relates to illegal file sharing, which has caused much controversy in member states. MEPs have agreed to what they say is a compromise solution, which reads: “A user’s internet access may be restricted, if necessary and proportionate, only after a fair and impartial procedure including the user’s right to be heard.” However, many officials have said that this is not a compromise at all, and in the meantime the number of the number of people that have signed an e-petition against file sharing proposals in the UK’s Digital Economy Report has increased to around eleven thousand.

Source – BBC