The European Commission is assessing proposals to grant every EU citizen access to universal broadband, it has been revealed.
In a consultation set to last until May, the organisation will look at the best approach to offer telecoms to everyone within the member states.
Neelie Kroes, Europe's digital agenda commissioner, said it is vital that no-one is excluded from "digital society".
She said: "This consultation will help us to check if we need to update the rules to ensure that all EU citizens have access to essential communication services, including fast internet."
Among the issues to be discussed are whether competition in the market is enough to provide universal broadband services to all, and what the national and EU-wide strategies should be in helping introduce the service.
Plans for giving EU citizens access to broadband services follow shortly after Stephen Timms, the Minister for Digital Britain, revealed aims to get seven million more people online in the UK by 2014.