Value for money for consumers remains a clear EU strength, while operators’ financial health does not warrant ripping up sector-specific or merger control regulation
UK: nexfibre/Netomnia merger inquiry
The CMA’s surprising counterfactual and narrow competitive assessment present uncertainty for future altnet consolidation
UK: Ofcom clears (most of) Openreach’s fibre discounts
Ofcom has determined that the headline commercial offer may not allow altnets to recover costs and drive take-up, hindering the development of sustainable competition
Ireland: Protecting against a wholesale margin squeeze
Through pricing principles and transparency obligations, ComReg aims to ensure Eircom cannot take unfair advantage of the recently deregulated WCA market
Germany: Pricing principles for open access networks
BNetzA’s non-binding guidelines aim to reduce negotiation costs for network builders and access seekers, while ensuring a sufficient margin between wholesale and retail fibre prices
The declining profitability of operators in Denmark
An annual update of industry investment and revenue trends offers country-level input to the wider debate on the financial health of European telecoms
The prospect of three-to-two consolidation in Malta
Melita failed with a similar merger in 2017, but is hopeful that a recognition of heightened customer and investment demands will lead to a different decision this time around
Event debrief: Connected Britain 2026
Tensions flared over the nexfibre/Netomnia deal and Openreach’s fibre discounts, as data centres and the UK’s future DTT switch-off took AI’s place as prominent themes for this year
The BIPT’s fixed telecoms pricing report
As consumers increasingly opt for dual-play internet and mobile services, the regulator has encouraged regular switching to find lower prices
The state of broadband deployment in the US
The FCC’s latest progress report has exposed internal divisions on the role of satellite in helping to deliver high-speed connectivity nationwide
