The legislative process often seems a world apart from the street-level reality of the issues at hand. This sense of detachment makes it imperative that the telecom industry engages directly with legislators and policymakers.

When it comes to the two main issues for the telecommunications industry in Europe – the availability of harmonized spectrum for mobile broadband and the need for clearer regulation around fiber infrastructure – Ericsson has found that live demonstrations are a powerful educational tool.

Ericsson’s Government and Industry Relations Unit recently brought the technology behind the issues to the European Parliament’s doorstep with its Full Service Broadband Roadshow truck, which visited Brussels for five days in November.

Bo Ribbing, Ericsson Director of Strategic Marketing, says the stopover was successful in showcasing the technology that is usually dealt with at an abstract policy level in government. Visitors included members of the European Parliament who are involved in passing telecoms legislation, policy and technical officials who draft such legislation, and representatives from trade associations and operators.

“Everybody has their own agenda and their own preconceptions when they come to the Roadshow, and they all have questions,” Ribbing says. “They need to hear our views, which are based on Ericsson’s global experience and consumer research.”

The visit gave the VIPs the opportunity to experience the latest broadband technologies in person and have one-on-one discussions with experts in mobile broadband, fixed broadband, Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) and IPTV. “The Roadshow gives us a way to impress upon them the importance of taking a long-term view on where telecom is going and making sure that the prerequisites are in place for a smooth evolution,” Ribbing says.

“This in turn has an impact on GDP growth, environmental issues and people’s quality of life.”

Several issues that are important to telecoms remain unresolved in Brussels. Ribbing says that investment in FTTH has slowed due to a lack of clarity on whether European telecom operators will be required to share their deep fiber access infrastructure with their competitors.

Also, the dramatic growth of mobile broadband has hastened the need for more spectrum and a harmonized approach to it. Other issues include TV content rights and the coordination of infrastructure build-out.

“There is a need for information and education in the European Parliament,” Ribbing notes. “These people should ideally know everything about everything. That is not humanly possible, so we have to help them and give them information.”