TECH CENTRAL, IRISH INDEPENDENT (Ireland), LA STAMPA (Italy)
DUBLIN - The European Union is banking on broadband.
More than eight million euros in EU funding have been awarded to a project that promises to “revolutionize” broadband in Europe. According to Tech Central, the DISCUS project aims to address issues at the heart of the fiber-optic broadband provision: the growing demand for services like high-definition video streaming and gaming.
A three-year project based in Trinity College in Dublin, DISCUS will bring together 13 industry and academic partners from Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy, UK, Sweden and France. La Stampa says the head of the project is Italian Marco Ruffini, who wants to change broadband forever.
The project will explore "new ways" to use fiber optics to build what it calls a "simplified broadband network that will provide ultra-high speed internet" says the Irish Independent.
On the DISCUS official site, Irish Minister for Communication Pat Rabbitte is quoted as saying: "Strengthening Europe’s digital economy by advancing areas such as a high speed broadband rollout is a priority for the Irish Presidency of the EU. This pan European telecommunications project led by our own researchers here at CTVR at Trinity will provide concrete results for the benefit of both Ireland and Europe and demonstrates the critical links between research and enterprise that lead ultimately to jobs creation."
But why is this project important? It demonstrates how the EU can contribute to research, as well as illustrating how it is good to put more money into the EU budget, rather than less says La Stampa.
The total investment in this project is 11.7 million euros, of which 8.1 million euros has been contributed by the EU. The remainder has been provided by other partners, including Telecom Italia and Nokia.
