As the migration from copper to fibre speeds up, the operator is now touting the environmental benefits of its programme
The process will pick up speed from now on: On Friday last week, Telefonica announced it reached an important milestone of having closed 1,000 of its copper exchanges. The operator started the process in 2016, and it’s scheduled to finish in 2024, to coincide with the company’s 100th anniversary (although some exchanges could remain open until 2025 or 2026). There appears to be a long way to go before completion, with Telefonica having a total of 8,250 copper exchanges. However, it was only this year that the operator started closing exchanges where LLU access seekers are still active. From now on, closures are expected to occur at a faster pace, with most of the exchanges with unbundlers present expected to close during 2024.
Spain has convincingly embraced fibre: The extensive full fibre footprint in the country will undoubtedly facilitate the switch-off in the years ahead – 85% of households in Spain have access. Recently, operators alternative to Telefonica have invested in their own fibre, and made up more than half of the 56m FTTH lines installed as of Q4 2020. The regulator, the CNMC, has overseen the process and ensured that alternative operators were given adequate notice before exchanges with co-located operators would be closed. However, the shift towards full fibre in the market is clear and definitive – so much so, that in its forthcoming review of Market 3a the CNMC is proposing to reduce the closure notice period from five to two years, to avoid placing obstacles on fibre investment.
A further step towards net zero: In its statement last week, Telefonica stressed the significant importance of copper switch-off towards its target of reaching net zero emissions by 2025, (as detailed in our Sustainability Tracker). Telefonica estimates that so far it has saved 1,000 Gwh (or 355,000 tons of CO2 – equivalent to planting six million trees). The switch-off also results in significant efficiencies in that a fibre exchange can serve the same number of premises that are served by four copper exchanges, with fibre access technology occupying only 15% of the space taken up by copper. The fact that the operator is placing so much importance on this aspect is a telling sign of the attention it is placing on sustainability, like many other operators in Europe and around the world now are.
