Ofcom has finalised the Wholesale Local Access market review. The draft statement reinforces many messages from last year’s consultation and crucially maintains a new charge control for Openreach’s anchor fibre product. A greater emphasis is being put on access to BT’s duct and pole network in light of the strong momentum towards full-fibre from broadband companies other than Openreach.
Regulators press ahead with plans for 5G amid wider uncertainties
The German regulator BNetzA is the latest in a line of European regulators preparing a 5G spectrum auction. Similar planning is taking place in France and in the UK. The European Radio Spectrum Policy Group has also set ambitious deadlines, with the view to see the first commercial launches by 2020. However, for 5G networks to become operational by such a tight deadline, progress needs to be made not only on the front of spectrum awards, but also on the finalisation of 5G standards and on building comprehensive 5G strategies to identify products and services 5G will support and enable.
For the first time, Telecom Italia’s network separation is credible
Network separation of Italy’s incumbent, Telecom Italia (TIM), has made the headlines for a number of years now. More often that not, rumours were not well founded, as they were fuelled by speculation around the need for TI to lighten the regulatory burden it faces, and be more agile in competing at the retail level. The fact that TIM is now controlled by a foreign group is pushing the government to consider separation; so much so, that TIM’s next board meeting on 6 March 2018 will vote on a plan to spin-off the network itself. At the same time, the change in landscape of Italy’s wholesale market could make this a well-timed move for TIM.
The push to open ducts and poles for mobile use
As a country that regularly tops the rankings for network speed and availability, it’s unsurprising that South Korea is pushing for a speedy deployment of 5G technology. In a recent meeting between the Minister for Science and ICT and the country’s main telcos, the government urged industry to collaborate closely to accelerate the adoption of 5G. The minister called for MNOs to be proactive in sharing their infrastructure in order to facilitate investment; and, crucially, asked fixed operators to help 5G development by opening up their passive infrastructure such as ducts and poles.
The EU's Electronic Communications Code is still a long way away from getting approved
With the trialogue negotiations between the Commission, Council and Parliament now underway, an approved final text should in theory be imminent. However, the Council and the Parliament still have significant differences of opinion given their respective positions, and must still take on board the concerns of the industry, which is generally skeptical about the likely success of the code in creating a sensible framework for investment.
Event: Global Broadband Futures
On 13 November 2017, Assembly participated in the inaugural Global Broadband Futures event in Sydney, Australia organised jointly by CommsDay and The National Broadband Network (nbn). The conference brought together speakers from Australia (nbn), Germany (DT), South Korea (KT), UK (Openreach) and New Zealand (Chorus), with the aim being to share international experience of the rollout of fibre broadband networks.
Ofcom pushes ahead with 2.3/3.4GHz spectrum award despite industry concerns
Ofcom has finalised how the 2.3 and 3.4GHz spectrum will be awarded and in doing so has decided on two different restrictions on bidders. The auction timetable expects bidding to begin as early as late October 2017, but given the strongly held positions by some in the industry, that looks ambitious.
The end of roaming in the EU
On June 15, 2017 after a decade of imposed price cuts, the premium for using your phone while travelling in the EU is set to disappear for good. While the initial intervention was a bitterly controversial one at the time, it was eventually embraced by operators, many of which ended up going beyond what was required.
New battle lines drawn after a year of setbacks for BT
Q4 and full year 2016/17 was always going to be a difficult set of results for BT given the enormity of the year they’ve had which saw two scandals (with considerable financial consequence), and the end of a protracted battle with the regulator over one of the most important lines of business. While that battle may be over, it’s clear there’s a new one beginning over Ofcom’s wholesale local access market review and investment incentives which looks set to dominate the agenda over the coming months.
The UK’s Digital Economy Bill becomes law just before the election
On 27 April 2017 the Digital Economy Act received its Royal Assent and therefore became law. The bill had been before Parliament since July 2016 and was subject to a number of amendments before being rushed through owing to the general election on 8 June 2017.
