Bulgaria will propose a 5th Generation High-Speed Internet Balkan corridor, which may be parallel to the current road links that are under construction between the countries in the region, announced the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Ivaylo Moskovski at a meeting today in Sofia with Roberto Viola, Director-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology of the European Commission. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip and of the Commissioner for Digital Economy and Digital Society Maria Gabriel.
"The projects on the construction of Corridor 8 and Corridor 10 envisage the installation of an optical infrastructure for ultra-fast internet, which is another essential prerequisite for the realization of this digital corridor. Our political ambition is to integrate the countries of the Western Balkans into the common European family, which certainly includes the 5G network", said Minister Moskovski. He urged Europe to become proactive towards the future of these countries and stressed that Bulgaria as presiding over the Council of the European Union will do its utmost to make it happen. Roberto Viola, from his side, confirmed that the European Commission will be actively involved in this process and underlined that digitization and connectivity will be one of the most important topics which will be discussed at the summit on the Western Balkans on May 16-17 in Sofia, in which the Committee President Jean-Claude Juncker, his deputies and a large number of commissioners are expected to participate.
The Bulgarian Presidency may have the privilege to successfully close one of the most important topics - the Electronic Communications Code, Roberto Viola said. In his words, this will be a great achievement in relation to the deployment of 5th generation high-speed Internet, alongside with the sophisticated transport. The Electronic Communications Code will set good conditions for investment in digital networks and fair conditions for market participants.
Minister Moskovski and Roberto Viola expressed their confidence that during the Bulgarian Presidency, significant progress will be made in the new European regulations for the protection of citizens' personal data.
Ivaylo Moskovski invited the head of the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology at the European Commission together with EU commissioner Maria Gabriel to an informal meeting of Telecommunications Ministers, in Sofia in April. The meeting was also discussed during a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and his Luxembourg counterpart, Xavier Bettel.
The Minister announced that next week, a memorandum will be signed between the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications and the European Commission to hold the largest technological event in Europe in 2018 - the Digital Assembly. It will be held on 25 and 26 June in Sofia. More than 1200 representatives of the European Commission, governments, business and non-governmental organizations will take part in the prestigious forum.
