MATTHEW PEACH INVESTMENT
in future-proof infrastructure
is ALWAYS VALUABLE
E rzsébet Fitori was ten years’ experience in regulatory a airs and public policy, including four years as Director at the European Competitive Telecommunications Association, she was previously Head of Regulatory A airs at Telenor Hungary in Budapest. She is passionate about the continent’s need for optical fibre and ensuring that the Council completes its mission to appointed as Director General of the FTTH Council Europe in mid-2016 and started the job on 1 September. An academic and a lawyer with more than accelerate the availability of fibre-based, ultra-high-speed access networks for the benefit of consumers and businesses. “I believe that fibre is the foundation of the future and it’s paving the ground for progress; in many ways, that progressive agenda is what drew me to this role in the FTTH Council Europe. What is not yet widely enough recognised, I believe, is that in the near future, fibre will be foundational for almost all of our high capacity networks, whether they are fixed or wireless gigabit-networks.” She cites the imminent arrival of 5G as a driver that will depend on really deep fibre deployment to enable the capabilities that generally distinguish it from 4G. Fibre will also be necessary to enable next generations of autonomous driving systems, the Internet of Things, a digitised European industry and how healthcare will be carried out in the future. “This not only because of the high speeds that are possible with fibre but also because of the low latency of such networks,” Fitori explains. “For example, the connected car, which is emerging in
Erzsébet Fitori, the new Director General of FTTH Council Europe says the continent must catch up with its global competitors, but remains optimistic about recent progress. By Matthew Peach.
MATTHEW PEACH
all developed markets, will most likely not require very high bandwidth – but some critical functions will need to have no delay. There will obviously not be a fibre line connected to the car, but its wireless connection there is will need to have millisecond latency.” EUROPEAN AGREEMENT Fitori has close contacts with the increasingly fibre-focused European Commission (the Council’s headquarters is just a few hundred meters away). There is an ongoing revision of the telecoms framework of the European Union; the latest legislative proposal for which was published in September 2016. “I think it likely that there will be policy changes, “ she says. “One of the most important changes put forward by the EC is the ubiquitous availability and take-up of very high capacity networks; it has been proposed to become a regulatory requirement, which was not policy previously.” The FTTH Council Europe believes that this policy change will be a positive step towards getting Europe to become a global digital leader again. The other main issue a ecting FTTH development is the setting of new gigabit connectivity targets for Europe in the Gigabit Society Communication of the European Commission. The Council is very supportive of these connectivity objectives, believing that the whole vision and direction are the right priorities.
across Europe. For example, the Nordics and Portugal and Spain are extremely advanced in their FTTH/B penetration, with, for instance, a rate of 35% in Sweden, 19% in Portugal and 14% in Spain at end- September 2015. Other countries such as the UK and Germany have coverage that is still pretty low (around 1% penetration rate). Fitori comments, “I am hopeful that soon there will be big shifts in markets such as Germany and the UK but, as it stands, Europe is still behind Asia and the UAE. This makes it very significant how we develop policy on new deployment of fibre or the continuation of the old copper networks. Europe’s global competitors are so far ahead with fibre that Europe is becoming a museum for copper networks if we do not step up the mark now.” So does Fitori feel that the market and regulatory reforms are su cient pressures to e ect the changes she wants? “If we want to nurture digital innovation in Europe, our infrastructure must be best-in-class. We can see really strong outcomes when there is commitment from governments and regulators to actively promote and stimulate the private market towards FTTH/B investments. This is precisely what European regulation should do so that all European citizens and businesses can have very high capacity connectivity and be part of a Gigabit Society.” “It’s important for private investors to get more involved in this market and that policy is clear on promoting future- proof fibre investments. There is often an investment case for non-urban and more remote areas and we should not leave anyone behind. For example, in France in non-commercial areas fibre networks are deployed as a PPP. She concludes, “investment in future- proof infrastructure is always valuable and this type of development should not be shaken up by political changes, such as Brexit, that much. To me it’s very factual. Connectivity is politically neutral.”
Optimistic: Erzsébet Fitori, the Director
General of FTTH Council Europe, speaks to the
DEPLOYMENT PICTURE
The average level of FTTH/B coverage across Europe at end-September 2015 is around 39% (EU39) or 27% (EU28) according to the FTTH market panorama report prepared by IDATE for the Council, unveiled at last year’s conference. However, there are huge di erences
conference, urging Europe to invest in infrastructure to remain competitive. Image: FTTHCE.
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ISSUE 8 | Q1 2017
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