European Telecoms told to end broadband monopoly

Leading European telecoms companies should give rivals access to their superfast broadband networks, the European Commission said on Thursday. In a draft recommendation for national telecoms regulators, the Commission also highlighted the importance of ensuring that Europe's former fixed-line phone monopolies are able to secure appropriate returns on their high-speed broadband investments. Viviane Reding, European telecoms commissioner, and Neelie Kroes, competition commissioner, on Thursday expressed concern that the EU was lagging behind leading industrialized countries, such as Japan and the US, in the rollout of high speed broadband networks.