“At the European level, as of the end of the first six months, we have been concerned about the fact that the growth rate of mobile broadband penetration is not as great [as before], which means that we will not see last year’s evolution again. Nearly 75 percent of the fixed broadband operators in Europe say they provide speeds of over 2 Mbps, but users generally do not receive this,” said Ruprecht Niepold, European Commission Advisor on matters of spectre policy and media.
“Wireless internet is the key for full coverage. In rural areas, wireless broadband will expand the coverage of mobile networks and the satellites will cover for the lack of fixed infrastructure,” Niepold said.
In Romania, the number of fixed broadband users amounted to 2.6 million in the first half of this year, compared to 2.3 million in H1 2008, while the mobile internet had a spectacular increase, of up to 2.4 million users, compared to 900,000 in June 2008. The broadband penetration rate is 12.3 percent in terms of number of inhabitants and 32.1 percent in terms of households. Mobile internet reached 11.3 percent of the population, according to data published by the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM)
