Other noteworthy regulatory developments week ending 18 June 2021 from the Assembly Analyst team
In Spain, the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) revised the prices for access to Telefonica’s passive infrastructure. The regulator has decided monthly recurring charges will fall on average by 22% for products such as duct access. On the other hand, one-off charges see an average 14% increase, to reflect the increased cost of labour since 2009 when these prices were first set. Passive infrastructure access has played a major role in the deployment of full fibre in Spain which stands at the highest among EU countries.
In Belgium, the Government has launched a 5G information campaign. It aims to reduce concerns amid the population about 5G’s impact on health and the environment. The deployment of 5G is facing a number of obstacles in Belgium. Local governments met the launch of Proximus’s networks with resistance in 2020, and limits for electromagnetic field emissions are very low in some areas of the country, including Brussels. The auction of spectrum for 5G also faced delays due to disagreements between regional governments.
