On 18 January 2019, The Italian regulator AGCOM has published the long-awaited draft review of the Wholesale Broadband Access markets (Markets 3a/3b and 4 of the EC’s Recommendation on relevant markets). The proposal aims to deregulate the market in Milan, and introduces nuanced price control remedies in the rest of the country, recognising market evolution of recent years.
Italian government must tread carefully in the TIM–Open Fiber merger
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.
More fibre investment and less conflict for UK ISPs
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.
The UK’s Digital Economy Bill becomes law just before the election
On 27 April 2017 the Digital Economy Act received its Royal Assent and therefore became law. The bill had been before Parliament since July 2016 and was subject to a number of amendments before being rushed through owing to the general election on 8 June 2017.
Ofcom to regulate wholesale price of fibre for the first time
On 31 March 2017, Ofcom published a number of consultation documents in relation to its Wholesale Local Access Market Review. The three key proposals are for a broadly stable LLU charge control, a new wholesale price control on some of BT's fibre network and tougher quality of service standards for Openreach.
