The CNMC looks to reduce the area of the country where Telefonica faces wholesale access obligations.
A long overdue review: On 17 November 2020, the Spanish National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) opened a public consultation on the review of the wholesale broadband access markets. The review will replace the current regulation which dates back to 2016.
Competition has significantly improved: The new review reflects the increased competition in the market by extending the ‘competitive zone’ to 592 municipalities, equivalent to 67% of the Spanish population. This is significantly more than in 2016, when the competitive zone was made up of 66 municipalities (35% of the population). In the rest of the country, the CNMC will require Telefonica to provide virtual unbundled access and wholesale broadband access on fibre.
Duct and pole access is confirmed: The CNMC proposes to retain access remedies on Telefonica’s civil engineering infrastructure, since they have played a fundamental role in the development of fibre networks in recent years. It will also continue to impose LLU over copper in the whole country, despite its significantly reduced importance (6.7% of lines in 2019, compared to 30% in 2015).
