ESPON 1.2.2: Territoriality of Telecommunication Networks and

Services in Europe

Ranald RichardsonCURDS

University of Newcastle upon TyneESPON Seminar, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

11/12 October 2004

Composition of TPG 1.2.2

• CURDS, University of Newcastle, UK• Karelian Institute, University of Joensuu,

Finland• CEIDET, University of Aveiro, Portugal• School of Built Environment, Heriot Watt

University, UK

Presentation structure

• Key messages and final results• Key policy recommendations• Main scientific achievements• Proposals for further research and

improvement of data availability• Evaluation of networking

Technologies and applications explored

• We explored a number of inter-related and ultimately connected technologies from ‘mature’ to ‘advanced’– Fixed telephony– Mobile telephony– Personal computer– Internet– Broadband– Internet broadband backbone networks– Also looked at adoption of ‘e-commerce’

Some general points

• Each technology exhibits a different territorial pattern

• National specificities remain crucial in understanding the territoriality of telecoms

• Our report represents a ‘snap-shot’ of a highly dynamic and complex environment

• Attempted to analyse our findings at the macro, meso and micro scales.

Macro-level findings

• ‘North-south’ divide in EU 15+2– Strength of Nordic countries a key component of this

• The EU core-periphery distinction does not generally hold true for telecoms

• There is an ‘west-east’ divide across all technologies:– though some individual N12 countries outpace individual

EU15 countries– progress in N12, but not sufficient for catch up to EU15+2

at current rates of growth• Differences between N12 countries

– No ‘Nordic bloc’ equivalent– Romania and Bulgaria tend to lag

Macro-level findings

• In terms of the latest technology, broadband is most developed in Benelux, as well as Sweden and Denmark. Some N12 countries out-perform some EU 15 countries

• Of all technologies mobile shows most even territorial spread and to some extent exhibits a ‘reverse core-periphery’ pattern

Proportion of population subscribing to broadband (DSL and Cable Modem) in European Countries, 2002

Main findings at the meso-level

• Data extremely limited for N12 so most meso-level analysis is at EU15

• National specificities remain crucial in understanding regional differences across the European territory

• Reflected in narrow ‘category spread’ between regions within countries, partial exception is broadband which is at early stage of roll out

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The level of ‘national effect’ in Internet uptake in EU15 regions

Main findings at the meso-level

• Factors ‘explaining’ regional differences beyond the ‘national effect’ are complex and vary between technologies, e.g.,:– High PC and Internet take up is associated with

developmental status, with non-Objective 1 regions and those with higher GDP

– High broadband take up associated with non-Objective 1 status, relatively high GDP, density of population, and proximity to the core

– High mobile take up is associated being outside the core

The relationship between household Internet access

and Objective 1 status in EU15 regions (mean = 33.6)

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Main findings at the micro level

• Metro-urban-rural divide in supply of telecoms– This reflects concentration of activities with high

demand for telecoms in cities– For newer technologies it also reflects profit

maximising roll out strategies associated with nodal technologies. Telcos focus investment first on concentrations of consumers and businesses

Main findings at the micro level

• Metro-urban-rural divide in demand/uptake for telecoms, – but this varies across technologies. More

mature technologies tend to have more even territorial demand/uptake, in part, at least reflecting more even roll-out

– and the metro-urban-rural balance varies across countries

EU15 avge =

100

Metro Urban Rural

Technology

Fixed 100 100 100 100

Mobile 100 101 100 99

PC 100 104 104 96

Internet 100 109 103 91

Broadband Internet

100 160 100 60

Index of technology penetration in households by locality type (figures from 2002)

TYPE OF LOCALITY

% of households

TOTAL Metro Urban Rural

EU 15 34 (100) 37 (109) 35 (103) 31 (91)

Belgium 32 (100) 33 (103) 32 (100) 31 (97)

Danmark 54 (100) 63 (117) 55 (102) 46 (85)

Deutschland 33 (100) 39 (118) 33 (100) 32 (97)

Ellada 14 (100) 18 (129) 15 (107) 9 (64)

Espana 23 (100) 28 (122) 25 (109) 20 (87)

France 20 (100) 25 (125) 17 (85) 15 (75)

Ireland 33 (100) 36 (109) 32 (97) 32 (97)

Italia 34 (100) 37 (109) 34 (100) 34 (100)

Luxembourg 46 (100) 57 (124) 38 (83) 44 (96)

Nederland 48 (100) 53 (110) 45 (94) 50 (104)

Osterreich 33 (100) 34 (103) 34 (103) 32 (97)

Portugal 15 (100) 15 (100) 17 (113) 15 (100)

Finland 36 (100) 53 (147) 33 (92) 32 (89)

Sverige 64 (100) 64 (100) 64 (100) 64 (100)

United Kingdom 45 (100) 44 (98) 45 (100) 47 (104)

Proportion of Internet household penetration by locality type (figures in brackets express the data as an index of the national figure)

Key policy recommendations

• Addressing the ‘aspatiality’ of regulatory policy • Demand aggregation of public sector (and private

sector) telecoms procurement• Subsidizing or constructing telecoms networks• Establishing greater symmetry between the public

authorities and telecoms providers• Development of common indicators and improved

and standardised collection • Regional observatory (observatory with a regional

focus) in each Member State

Data improvement – demand side

• Demand side data already improving, through eEurope Action Plan monitoring process and DG Infso surveys

• More needs to be done to meet ‘ESPON perspective’ e.g.,:– Surveys need to be extended to N12 plus Norway

and Switzerland on a comparable basis– Comparable data below NUTS 2 required– Common definitions of metro-urban-rural required

Data improvement – supply side

• Very problematic – ownership of data by individual companies in an extremely competitive market

• Potential (partial) solutions:– Obliging telcos to provide spatial data to regulators

or relevant ministries– Establishing regional telecoms (or wider

information society) observatories

Future research

• Reanalysing European data from an ESPON perspective on an annual basis – developing our analytical tools to provide time-series data

• Building on our analysis of KMI and Telegeography data and other sources

• Qualitative research aimed at enhancing our understanding the territorial patterns uncovered during our project

Scientific achievements: a few examples

• Probably largest and most comprehensive telecoms study from a territorial perspective

• First in-depth exploration of how telecoms developments in Europe relate to spatial planning/ESDP contexts.

• Development and mapping of a number of innovative typologies of NUTS 2 regions: based on a combination of available data sets and modelling for EU 15+2 and EU27+2

Networking activities• Within TPG • Across TPGs• Beyond ESPON, some examples:

– BISER– SIBIS– UNDERSTAND– eris@

• Commission