Swisscom wants to use point-to-multipoint technology for its future deployments. Regulators are concerned that this could be an anticompetitive move
A court suspends Swisscom’s FTTH deployment: Swisscom’s network expansion strategy is facing a significant regulatory challenge. Last week, the Swiss Federal Administrative Court upheld a decision of the Competition Commission (COMCO), which in December 2020 ordered Swisscom to provisionally suspend its fibre deployment. The plan would bring FTTH to 1.5m homes and businesses by 2025. Swisscom will now have to wait for COMCO to complete its investigation, which was prompted by complaints of competitors.
Swisscom wants to deviate from the current network topology: Regulators have a problem with the network topology Swisscom wants to use for its future deployments. The existing standard, which Swisscom has used up until now, is point-to-point (P2P) that was agreed between operators and regulators in the roundtable on fibre-optic networks between 2008 and 2012. For the 1.5m premises where Swisscom will build alone, it wants to use a point-to-multipoint topology (P2MP) which is more cost-effective. However, this topology presents challenges in terms of network access. Unbundling individual FTTH lines is problematic, which means alternative operators can no longer obtain direct access to the infrastructure. In its ruling, the tribunal said that Swisscom failed to substantiate that there were sufficient technological or economic grounds to deviate from the current standard.
FTTH deployment in Switzerland could now face delays: In a statement, Swisscom “greatly regrets” the decision of the tribunal and notes that the P2MP topology is based on an internationally established model of deployment. P2MP topology is indeed common in FTTH deployments – for example across Europe, where regulators have mandated active remedies such as VULA to preserve competition at the retail level. However, where technically feasible regulators also mandate physical unbundling, to ensure access seekers have as much control as possible over the infrastructure. COMCOM’s preliminary view was that Swisscom could be abusing its dominant position in the market. While it reaches a final decision, fibre deployment in Switzerland is likely to slow down significantly.
Source: https://www.bvger.ch/bvger/en/home/media/medienmitteilungen-2021/swisscom-glasfaser.html
