Imagine working at the
European Commission headquarters in Brussels, knowing you had no access to 4G
Internet even as the rest of Belgium was enjoying it. That has been the scenario in the Belgian
capital for quite a while, thanks to regulations that prevented wireless data
communications providers from installing the technology necessary for 4G
networking. However, things have finally
changed.
Brussels and her
residents finally joined the 4G era as Proximus began its rollout of a
brand-new LTE network. It will be a year
before everyone in the city has access, but at least the change is now
underway. It is unfortunate that the
situation required intervention from EC vice president Neelie Kroes in order to
be resolved.
The problem in Brussels
was not related to infrastructure or hardware limitations. It was the direct result of regulations that did
not allow for the installation of the towers and antennae needed to provide 4G
access. Those towers exceed the 3 volts
per metre output cap currently in place within city limits.
The lack of 4G access in
the city that hosts the European Commission eventually became a political and
public image problem that the EC could not ignore. Now it appears that the
European Parliament is ready to institute a new ordinance tripling the
allowable output to 6 volts per metre. In
anticipation of the new ordinance, service providers are making plans to get
their antennae up and running.
Despite the good news,
telcos are warning that citywide 4G access is far from a done deal. They still face the prospect of gaining all
the necessary permits required to place towers and antennae in the right
locations. Provided there are no more delays, they expect the rollout to be
complete by early next year.
Regulatory Update Needed
It is ironic to note that
a prohibitive regulatory environment in the European capital prevented the EC
from joining the rest of the world in high-speed data communications. The 3 volt per metre limit on communication
tower output is 200 times lower than what is recommended by both the World
Health Organisation and the European Union, yet it took a handful of EC
politicians getting upset before any action was taken. Should things have really come to that?
If Europe is to lead the
way in pushing global communications into the future, the regulatory
environment across the continent needs to be flexible and as easy to change as
possible. It should not take an
embarrassing situation like the one we have seen in Brussels to make the powers
that be understand how stifling unnecessary regulation is to innovation. These types of scenarios only hurt our efforts
to maintain our position as world leaders in high-speed Internet, IT services
and other technologies.
As for the residents of
Brussels, we are happy for them and their newfound access to 4G. A year from now, everyone living in the city
will be enjoying all the benefits of 4G Internet, including higher data speeds
and greater access to on-demand Internet services.
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