Kroes: EU member states should hurry up with legislation on satellite services

Eurocommissioner Kroes wants the 21 EU member states to hurry up with new legislation that should make a pan-European satellite network possible. Among other things, broadband internet should be offered via satellite.

The satellite services, which should also be used for emergency communications, television and telephony, should be provided by Inmarsat and Solaris Mobile. According to Kroes the services must become available in all Member States, but the necessary national legislation has not yet been introduced in the 21 Member States. The European Commissioner is therefore urging the EU countries to adopt the necessary laws as quickly as possible.

The timeline for the introduction of a pan-European satellite network was set in 2008 by the European Parliament. The EU believes that the availability of satellite services and the further roll-out of terrestrial services are crucial to provide broadband access to remote areas in the EU. Kroes previously expressed the ambition that every EU citizen should have access to broadband internet from 2013 and even linked her political fate to this.