PETER DYKES FTTHWRAP
level, the aim being ultimately to ensure every household and business has access at a minimum of 100Mbps. Indeed, such strategies are either in place or at least being planned in countries across Europe, but the Council noted development varied widely from one country to another, hence it’s emphasis on developing common strategies. SWITCHING TO FIBRE Copper switch-off was by far the main topic of the Council’s deliberations. Its report on the subject,
European Rankings Source: IDATE
that although Russia is the leader in terms of FTTH/B subscribers in the European region, it has showed a lower growth rate compared to other European countries which are catching up quickly with a 21% growth, and the deployment of both FTTH and FTTB networks has increased significantly. By September 2018 the report estimated that the coverage of FTTH/B reached 46.4% in the EU39 and 36.4% in EU28. This, it says, shows a clear upward trend from September 2015 where the estimated coverage rate in the
he said, “will underpin the regulatory environment for the whole industry and which places great emphasis on full fibre.” Essentially, the Code is designed to facilitate the roll-out of new, very high capacity fixed networks by making rules for co-investment more predictable and promoting risk sharing in the deployment of very high capacity networks; whilst ensuring closer cooperation between the Commission and the Body of European Regulators for Electronic
Copper Switch-Off: A European Benchmark, was prepared by WIK Consult, and was released during the conference. Introducing the study, Kelly said, “This study about copper switch- off is of tremendous importance for the FTTH Council Europe. The telecom market is in a transitional phase, it is moving from an old copper-based infrastructure to new fibre-based networks. There is a technology change and all eyes are on 5G but we should not forget that fibre is the foundation of all technologies for connectivity. Policy is lagging behind the market developments, and it is important that it catches up.” “We believe that Europe needs debate on the fate of copper is needed.” added Erzsébet Fitori, Director General of the FTTH Council Europe.” Our study is aimed to be a discussion starter and to bring together policy makers, copper network owners, new fibre investors and consumers to approach constructively this complex topic. Europe needs new fibre infrastructure and a very constructive dialogue amongst stakeholders. We are a keen platform for such a debate.” COMMUNICATIONS CODE Indeed, one of the key topics for the Council was the European Electronic Communications Code, which Kelly also referred to extensively in his opening keynote. He commended the Council members present for their support in preserving the text of the Code which, Erzsébet Fitori a single market strategy for the migration process and the ultimate switch-off of copper, therefore a European level
…all eyes are on 5G but we should not forget that fibre is the foundation of all technologies for connectivity
region was 39% in the EU39 and 27.2% in the EU28. For the year covered by the report, the country adding the most subscribers is European. Spain added 1,858,743 new FTTH/B subscribers, France comes second with an addition of 1,480,220 new FTTH/B subscriptions, while Russia saw its FTTH/B subscriber base increase with 1,256,000 new FTTH/B customers. Other countries also experienced notable increases such as Czechia with 523,950 new subscribers and Italy with 449,637 new subscribers. The report observed that Italy saw an outstanding growth in the number of homes passed, from 4,398,435 in September 2017, to 6,295,000 in September 2018 for a total increase of 43.12%.
Communications (BEREC) in supervising measures related to the new key access provisions of co-investment and symmetric regulation, including provision in remote and rural areas.. The agreed version of the Code was implemented in December 2018 and is currently in a two- year transitional phase. THE NUMBERS The other big event at the Conference was the launch of this year’s Market Panorama and Forecast Data, prepared by IDATE. The report found that the number of FTTH and FTTB subscribers in Europe increased by 15.7% in the 39 EU countries (EU39) since September 2017 with more than 59.6 million FTTH/B subscribers in September 2018. It said
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| ISSUE 17 | Q2 2019
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