Francois RomanChairman of Vodafone considers it essential that the Telecommunications Market Commission remove the 30 Mbps limit in Fiber Optics to access an affordable wholesale fiber access offer. “In case of non-compliance, the risk of a return to the monopoly is high”, according to the leader.
The president of the British operator in Spain underlined yesterday during a meeting with journalists that it is essential that the regulator favors the investment by alternative operators in next-generation networks. “Right now, there is no business plan which supports the deployment of two or three fiber optic networks. Román gave the example of the case of Portugal where Vodafone invested 60 million euros in Lisbon and Porto in the hope that the Portuguese regulator would allow access to the Portugal Telecom network. This did not happen and despite the investment, Vodafone’s FTTH coverage continues to be very limited.
Orange also warns of a possible fiber monopoly
Jean Marc Vignolles, CEO of Orange also has a similar opinion to that of his counterpart at Vodafone, however he considers “it is not the same thing to ask for a wholesale fiber optic service while investing in the deployment of the network as in the case of the French operator, they have to request the service without a subsequent investment plan, as in the case of the British operator.It also considers that if the Telecommunications Market Commission does not take measures to encourage investments in next-generation networks, “there will again be a monopoly situation in fixed broadband can only be corrected in the European context by much more drastic regulatory remedies.
Orange requests
Regarding the deployment of fiber, Vignolles recalled during his appearance the need to “share vertical markets with Movistarto prevent Movistar from protecting the homes where it is currently arriving. He also sees the need to share in other sections of the network to improve reach and profitability while reducing costs. In this sense, the CEO of Orange recalled that they will invest 300 million euros in FTTH in Spain to reach 1.5 million homes.