Spain’s telecoms regulator on Wednesday ruled that Telefonica must open up its fibre infrastructure to rival players in around three-quarters of the country, prompting the incumbent to threaten to hold back on investment in the technology.
The Comisión Nacional de Mercados y Competencia (CNMC) published a draft ruling that requires "the operator with significant market power" to open up its fibre network to rival players in municipalities where there are fewer th an three players rolling out next-generation infrastructure.
The dominant operator must also provide wholesale bitstream access on copper and fibre for the business market, and provide wholesale access on copper and fibre in areas of low competition without the 30 Mbps speed cap it currently applies, the regulator said.
Telefonica is unhappy with the ruling and, according to local press reports, is considering how to respond.
The telco said it will now review its plans for rolling out fibre-to-the-home (FTTH), given that it will be forced to rent out the network to rivals at regulated prices, Expansion reported.
The CNMC’s decision "will result in the possibility of the brakes being put on investment in our country and bring to an end a successful model that has brought about the deployment of fibre-to-the-home in Spain, which has surpassed all other European countries in terms of the number of homes passed," the paper quoted Telefonica as saying.
As it stands, Telefonica would be required to open up its networks in areas covering just under three-quarters of the Spanish population.
The CNMC has ascertained that 34 municipalities, covering 26% of the population, are competitive in high-speed broadband, based on its criteria of at least three operators deploying next-generation networks – using FTTH or DOCSIS 3.0 – with coverage reaching a minimum of 20%.
That figure has risen since the regulator launched its public consultation on the matter in December last year, when only nine municipalities were considered competitive.
The CNMC explained that Wednesday’s announcement constitutes a draft measure and has therefore not entered regulation. The European Commission, the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism and the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness have one month to comment. The CNMC will consider their opinions when making its final decision on the subject.
