Alliance For Internet In Europe Launched
Newsbytes - May 21, 1998 14:10
BRACKNELL, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1998 MAY 21 (NB) -- Newsbytes.
3Com [NYSE:COMS] has launched a new movement that it says is dedicated
to improving and securing the future of the Internet in Europe.
Known as the Alliance for the Internet in Europe (a4ie), the industry
led initiative aims to provide a non-competitive forum to act as a
single voice across Europe to mobilize legislators and governments to
solve the issues that are preventing European commerce from taking
full benefit of the Internet.
Steve Rowley, 3Com Europe's vice president for Europe, said that the
plan is for the a14e to act as an action group, rather than as a
talking shop.
"Commerce and technology leaders are coming together through the a4ie
to resolve two main challenges: firstly, to develop a methodology for
determining the financial issues, like tariffs and taxation, so that
electronic commerce can reach its potential in Europe; and secondly,
to create a solid European infrastructure to fix the access problems
Europeans are experiencing when using the Internet," he said.
Rowley went on to say that the increasing volume of traffic is creating
the need for a more commercial approach to Internet provision. He have
a warning that European commerce and industry could lose out if it does
not address the issues immediately.
"The issues we face in Europe are so large and complex that a single
company cannot solve the problems. The complexities of the geographical
constraints make the task even harder in Europe than in the US and the
pace of technological change means that the legislators are always
lagging behind," he said.
Launching a4ie yesterday, Simon van Otichem, a senior spokesperson for
ING, the Dutch financial institution and another founder member of the
alliance, said that, if Europeans are serious about e-commerce, they
must ensure that Internet users across Europe have a guaranteed level
of service which includes speed of delivery, reliability and efficiency.
"Only a body such as the a4ie can solve these problems. This alliance
will be able to work across European boundaries with governments and
regulators, multinational and small businesses, addressing issues
relevant to corporate bodies and individual users of the Internet," he
said.
According to van Otichem, the alliance will aim to overcome the
challenges to the Internet posed by a region of nation states
comprising different cultures, social and economic conditions and
regulatory structures.
Other members of the a4ie include CERN (the European Laboratory for
Particle Physics), Istituto S. Paolo di Torino, Network NorthWest,
Siemens OEN, Open Market, Telewest Communications and the University
of Utrecht.
The alliance's Web site is at a4ie.org , with a mirror site
at a4ie.com .
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