FTTH Council welcomes proposal for copper switch off
September 24, 2024
The FTTH Council Europe has welcomed the proposal in the Draghi Report on the future of European competitiveness to prioritise shutting down legacy copper networks and the completion of the first step in Europe’s digital transformation.
Setting a concrete date for switching off legacy copper networks echoes the commitment by DG Connect in its recent White Paper. Shutting down copper networks requires careful planning and management but gives confidence to investors and operators about the path ahead, driving investment and addressing demand issues.
The FTTH Council Europe also welcomes the recommendation to ensure sufficient spectrum is available for indoor Wi-Fi – with 95 per cent of all wireless traffic happening indoors, the need to ensure that the upper 6GHz band is available as unlicenced spectrum for Wi-Fi is critical to supporting the performance of, and demand for, fibre networks.
“The current regulatory framework has been very effective in incentivising investment in fibre in Europe and copper switch-off is essential to allow FTTH take up and deployment,” commented FTTH Council Europe’s President, Roshene McCool.
While copper switch-off should be prioritised, the FTTH Council Europe has reservations about the first recommendation in the Draghi report, noting that the successful investment dynamic in Europe has been driven by alternative operators. That competitive dynamic in Europe has ensured greater fibre network availability and generally better 5G coverage than in the US, where prices are significantly higher.
The overall competitive approach in Europe has worked well, delivering good networks and competitive outcomes for businesses and end users. Europe should maintain the competitive process at the heart of economic regulation and maintain competitive entry to networks and services. An important element will be to ensure that the copper to fibre migration process takes place in a fair and competitive market environment.
Vincent Garnier, Director General of the FTTH Council Europe, added: “As the FTTH Council Europe, we look forward to working with the European Commission, Parliament, Council and all relevant stakeholders to ensure that Europe continues its digital transformation in a way that best supports the European economy and society.”