After a busy 12 months of fibre deployment, the regulator thought it timely to assess how the fibre broadband market was performing.
What’s the main concern? The ACM’s report noted that: ‘in built-up areas, multiple operators often announce the deployment of fiber-optic at the same location. Such duplicate deployment of fiber-optic in addition to the existing copper and cable networks is generally not cost-effective. Within the current system, market participants may respond strategically to fiber-optic project announcements of competitors, which are consequently either delayed or scaled down.’
What’s the perceived impact? Such strategic moves in response to fiber projects of competitors add to the uncertainty that investors in fiber infrastructure face. In turn, the ACM feel this may deter investors, and thus lead to fewer investments in the deployment of fiber in certain areas. The result of this effect could be a situation where the opportunities that currently exist for an extensive introduction of fibre across the Netherlands do not materialise.
Possible remedies being considered: The ACM suggested potential remedies to the fibre bottleneck issues, including: exploring opportunities for joint investments within the competition law framework at the request of the market parties involved; municipalities, utilities companies and provinces coordinating and publicising conditions they apply for the installation of fibre networks, thereby providing clarity to all parties, avoiding uncertainty among investors and accelerating the rollout process; and giving municipalities options to temporarily protect a ‘first-mover’ party, i.e. the company that initially proposes a plan to deploy fibre in an area.
Next steps: The ACM will discuss its recommendations with the Ministry of Economic Affairs as well as municipality authorities. KPN has publicly disagreed with the ACM’s conclusions in an initial response, highlighting that it seeks agreements with competitors who want to install fibre networks in the same areas as they do.
