EU industry chiefs meet Commissioner Reding for state of play summit on issues surrounding cable increasing role in pushing European connectivity

Brussels, 13 October 2009: Cable Europe announced today latest yearend figures for 2009 which indicate a rise in broadband customers throughout Europe as CEOs addressed priority policy areas in meetings held today in Brussels with Vivian Reding, European Commissioner for Information Society and Media.

“Our meetings today signify commitment from both the business community and the policy community to work together towards the common goal of broadband rollout across the EU. What better occasion to announce the latest 2009 yearend figures† whose estimates push us past the 20 million customer mark, 20.8 million to be exact,” said Cable Europe President, Manuel Kohnstamm. “After working with a Commissioner who places a premium on EU consumer connectivity, delivering on a common goal to boost connectivity for EU consumers is certainly a positive way to kick off such meetings.”

In a European setting where such great attention has been placed on recovery as well as the growth and jobs agenda, Commissioner Reding was presented with the latest report* commissioned by Cable Europe. “Continuing on the theme of cooperation between business and decision makers, we find it important to seek areas of mutual benefit for Europe. The employment numbers in the latest report we commissioned paint a positive picture as by the end of 2008 the Cable industry employed around 84,000 people which is 43% growth over a five year period,” said Caroline van Weede, Cable Europe’s Managing Director. “And if you include related jobs at suppliers and the broadcast industry, we’re talking about 178,000 jobs. These aren’t jobs that get off shored – they ‘re sustainable given the local nature of cable and its next generation networks.”

The meetings with Commissioner Reding were an opportunity to exchange views on other key policy issues where Cable Europe has been active and will continue dialogue with EU policy makers:

· Cable’s high investment in Next Generation networks for Europe and its role in accelerating NGA rollout

· The need for an efficient copyright clearance system in Europe help streamline costs while boosting the European offer for legal digital content

· The renewal of State Aid for broadband which was deemed both timely and necessary by the cable industry in order to best incentivize private investment while minimizing government intervention and market distortion

· Imperatives for cable and its customers to get the most out of the potential opportunities for European connectivity presented by Digital Dividend

Cable Europe reiterated its will to continue to play a prominent role in European level dialogues that concern the wider ICT industry in today’s meetings with the Commissioner.

For more information, please contact:

Gregg Svingen

Director of Communications

M: +32 476 490 603

E: gregg.svingen@cable-europe.eu