The National Media and Infocommunications Authority, Hungary hosted a high-level international electronic communications conference in Budapest on 3 March 2011. In its Opening remarks to the Conference "All for Broadband - Broadband for all” Minister of State for Infocommunications Zsolt Nyitrai talked about the important role played by access to broadband Internet and the development of infocommunication services in job creation, boosting competitiveness and contributing to sustainable development.
 
At the press conference related to the event, Gábor Mátrai stressed that one of the main objectives of the European Union's Digital Agenda is to make broadband access available to most people in the most possible locations. The Vice-President of the NMHH stated that this is a common goal that can only be achieved by the joint and sustained effort of all stakeholders, overcoming both the supply- and demand-side obstacles. Mr. Mátrai added that new funding for supporting broadband investments will be available in the context of the New Széchenyi Development Plan.

Dr. Chris Mardsen from the University of Essex, as also the moderator of the Conference, acknowledged the success of the event, highlighting that the selection of speakers was outstanding, and this was among the best and most interesting conferences on the subject he had attended so far.

Vice-President of Deutsche Telekom Joachim Haas spoke about the need for an investment of EUR 300 billion in developing broadband access in Europe, with funding to be jointly provided by the public and the private sector. He also mentioned that 80 percent of this sum would be allocated to construction of infrastructure. Regarding Hungary, Mr. Haas said that the country has every reason to be proud of its rapidly-growing infocommunications market and excellent market competition.

There was unanimous agreement on the issue of joint public and private funding for broadband access development. Several speakers stressed that in cases where market players refused to assume the construction of networks due to lack of profitability, governments had to intervene. Such cases may arise in sparsely populated areas or in regions with poor economic performance, where higher construction costs go hand-in-hand with low effective demand.

All the speeches given at the Conference will soon be uploaded to the National Media and Infocommunications Authority's YouTube channel, and presentations will be available at this webpage.