“In today’s connected world, access to the internet and online services is essential. Too often, customers pay for download speeds that simply never reach the levels they were promised or what was advertised. This is unacceptable,” said Member of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola.
Together with nine other MEPs from across the political spectrum, Dr Metsola spearheaded a written declaration in the European Parliament that calls for measures to ensure that internet service providers advertise download speeds that are those that customers actually get.
“While prices have decreased, on average, only 75% of the download speed advertised has been made available to EU fixed broadband customers. Ensuring fast and reliable internet access is one of the pillars of the Digital Agenda for Europe, which aims to generate economic growth through the development of a digital single market across the EU,” Dr Metsola underlined.
“This is an issue that we have worked on for some years. We have managed to pass a Telecoms Single Market package, which is legislation that will see the end of mobile phone roaming charges in the EU by next year, with prices falling dramatically by the end of this month. The same package will also place an obligation of transparency on operators, and will include provisions for customers to be informed about the minimum, normally available, maximum advertised broadband speeds.
It is not enough to just have this on paper, we need to ensure that this is properly implemented. Our written declaration therefore calls upon the European Commission and Member States to ensure the effective monitoring and implementation of this package as soon as possible and to support awareness-raising campaigns, in particular to eradicate misleading advertisements,” said Dr Metsola.
Dr Metsola is a Member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection and has campaigned for the end of mobile phone roaming charges and the protection of digital rights across the EU.
