The Italian government is aiming to facilitate the creation of a wholesale-only network provider, resulting from the spin-off of Telecom Italia’s fixed network and its merger with Open Fiber. The move aims to facilitate investment in ultra-broadband, in a country where network duplication is particularly undesirable due to how the population is distributed. However, the government should be mindful not to kill competition between infrastructure, which would still be viable and desirable in many areas of the country, a model which is also playing out positively in other countries.

On 6 November 2018, representatives of the cable operators gathered in London for the Cable NextGen Europe conference. The picture that emerged is one of an industry with some meaningful ammunition under its belt for the years aheaD, in the form of innovative video platforms such as Vodafone’s new Cloud TV, and of new technology through which Gigabit speeds can be a reality – even in Europe, where ultrafast broadband is lagging behind other regions. However, 5G is still a huge question mark for cablecos; yet fixed–mobile convergence and the demand for backhaul coming from MNOs could create opportunities operators should be ready to seize.

The 2018 Conference of the UK Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA) took place in London on 30 October, at a time when the UK broadband market is undergoing fundamental change. Panels of usually opposing sides were characterised by comparatively little conflict, perhaps reflective of the new conciliatory nature of today’s infrastructure builders. Challenges however do exist on the horizon, especially owing to the ambitious targets set by the government for full-fibre deployment to every home by 2033 and the continuing need to remove barriers to deployment. To this end, there was some criticism to the government’s recent budget statement, particularly on business rates reform; and alternative operators expect improvements once Ofcom overhauls the framework for access to Openreach’s ducts and poles.

US regulator the FCC has reformed the rules of the Citizen Broadband Radio Service (CBRS). The changes make licences much longer and wider in geographical scope; this will be seen favourably by the largest mobile operators in the country, whereas small local players will now struggle in obtaining licences. With this ruling, coupled with recent decisions aiming to streamline small cells deployment, the FCC shows its intention to facilitate the ability to grow at scale in 5G; something that large carriers consider crucial for the success of 5G. While such an approach could hinder innovation coming from smaller operators and new entrants, it shows that the FCC has a clear vision of what 5G should look like in the US, and is taking steps to make it happen quickly.

The FT-ETNO 2018 summit gathered policymakers, regulators, industry executives and investors from Europe and beyond to discuss and debate the current regulatory challenges facing the industry. While the narrative has now become familiar among this particular set of stakeholders, the ferocity of the messages delivered was perhaps different. More than once Europe was described as being an uncertain place when it comes to regulation with some recent decisions even referred to as being toxic. Despite recognising the shortcomings, regulators called for pragmatism, saying that a complete overhaul of the regulatory model is off the table. In many ways next year’s event will be the more telling, once a number of recent reforms and a new set of policymakers in Brussels are in place.