A public consultation on what is the best approach to ensure that basic telecoms services are available for all EU citizens has been launched on the 2nd March by the European Commission. Current EU rules on universal service obligations for telecoms date from 2002 and guarantee that Europeans have access to public telephone networks and to services like basic internet access.

To mark European 112 Day on February 11, the European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes has written to Member States calling on them to intensify their efforts to raise awareness of Europe's single emergency number 112.

The European Commission on the 5 of february has warned the Lithuanian national telecoms regulator, Ryšių reguliavimo tarnyba (RRT), that obliging terrestrial broadcasters to use specific suppliers to transmit their programmes constitutes a barrier to competition and prevents new terrestrial transmission service providers from entering the market.

Yesterday marked the start of a new era for telecoms in the EU. The telecoms regulators of the 27 EU countries will meet for the first time in Brussels as members of the new Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC).

New EU telecoms rules will officially become EU law on December 19, 2009 following their publication in December's 18, 2009 Official Journal of the European Union. The new rules composed of the Better Regulation Directive and the Citizens’ Rights Directive will need to be transposed into national laws of the 27 EU Member States by June 2011.