The ongoing rollout of fibre means more of the country is now competitive, reducing the need to mandate access to TIM’s network
Partial deregulation of the EC’s Markets 1 and 2
Following council approval, AGCOM has launched a public consultation on its analysis of the fixed access markets in Italy. The review covers the markets for wholesale local access and wholesale dedicated capacity services (Markets 1 and 2 of the EC’s Recommendation on product and service markets susceptible to ex-ante regulation), as well as the wholesale central access market, which was Market 3b in the 2014 version of the Recommendation. AGCOM has taken into account developments in these markets – e.g. the growth in fibre coverage and the legal separation of TIM – and has used a five-year time horizon (2024-2028) for the first time in line with the revised European Electronic Communications Code (EECC).
The country has been segmented according to the degree of competition
In Markets 1 and 2, evidence emerged during the course of the market analysis process that has enabled AGCOM to identify as fully competitive certain parts of the country (e.g. Cagliari and Milan). In this sub-national geographic market, the regulator considers that obligations currently imposed on TIM should be removed. However, the rest of Italy is considered non-competitive, and subsequently TIM (together with its subsidiary Fibercop) has significant market power and should remain subject to remedial measures. The regulator has also identified a number of ‘contestable municipalities’, in which significant competitive pressure on TIM has been encountered but not yet consolidated. It is therefore proposed to loosen the regulation in these areas, removing cost orientation across various wholesale broadband products, including virtual local unbundled access (VULA).
Regulated bitstream access has been dropped
In former Market 3b, AGCOM found wholesale central access (bitstream) services to be competitive and, as such, no longer susceptible to ex-ante regulation. It has proposed to remove requirements on TIM, although access obligations will only fall away once a sunset period has expired. Finally, the regulator has updated the provisions governing the decommissioning of TIM’s copper network in order to encourage consumers to migrate from legacy services to newer technologies, while protecting them from harm. AGCOM’s consultation runs until 15 September 2023, after which its proposals will be finalised and adopted subject to the approvals of the EC and the AGCM (the Italian national competition authority).
