Funding improvements in the European broadband experience

In this paper for Google, Rob Kenny and Brian Williamson consider the case for a European Universal Service Fund.

They find that while this is an improvement over the recent proposal for traffic charges (not least becuase it would be directly linked to incremental investment), it would still have significant drawbacks.

Such a fund is not justified by the economics. Further establishing such a fund, and agreeing eligibility and allocation will all be highly contentious, with member states likely to have conflicting views. Thus any substantial investment is likely to arrive after the 2030 deadline for the Digital Decade targets. Indeed, a EUSF may be more likely to paralyse investment than enable it.