National broadband strategy final draft completed

The final national broadband strategy will be forwarded to the EU Commission by the end of next month, according to Minister for Competitiveness and Communications Censu Galea.

Dr Galea is attending the Informal Ministerial Conference on broadband technology being held in Dublin. This is the latest of a series of regular meetings for EU ministers responsible for communications.

Broadband is the latest in high speed internet access technology, delivering access at speeds hundreds of times faster than a dial-up modem.

As highlighted in a recent Commission report, the effective use of information and communication technology is the key for improved competitiveness and productivity growth in Europe.

The discussion in Dublin was aimed at exploring the best methods in formulating a policy centred on the development of content and services to stimulate the promotion and usage of broadband.

The conference also focused on the implementation by EU member states of their national broadband strategies in line with the eEurope 2005 action plan.

In his address to the conference, Mr Galea said the final draft of the national broadband strategy for Malta, drawn up jointly by the Malta Communications Authority and the IT Ministry, was presented to the National Information Society Advisory Council this week.

Following a period of public consultation, the final version will be forwarded to the Commission by the end of May in advance of the Commission's own communication on the same subject which is expected to be presented at the June Telecommunications Council.

Mr Galea went on to highlight the key principles adopted in this broadband strategy and said that the diffusion of broadband deployment, and its usage by the largest possible percentage of the population, would be a major milestone in a country's progress towards an information society and economy.

In the last quarter of 2003, it was estimated that 30 per cent of internet subscriptions were broadband. This effectively meant that 5.4 per cent in Malta used broadband, comparing well with the EU average of 6.03 per cent as at last January.