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Telco reiterates need for gigabit fibre networks versus ‘outmoded’ copper.
Vodafone has welcomed conditions imposed by the European Commission on Deutsche Telekom’s vectoring deployment.
Brussels on Tuesday gave the go-ahead for German telco regulator Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA) to approve Deutsche Telekom’s vectoring plan, after the watchdog revised the conditions attached to said approval.
Essentially, BNetzA has altered rules that would have made it more difficult for alternative operators to offer vectored VDSL services via Deutsche Telekom’s network.
"Vodafone commends the European Commission for its close scrutiny of the German regulator’s plan to allow Deutsche Telekom to upgrade its network with vectoring technology," said Vodafone, in a public policy update.
The regulator has also committed to drawing up additional proposals that will give altnets greater access to the incumbent’s infrastructure. The plan, which must include technical and pricing information, must be submitted to the Commission by the autumn.
Vodafone, which competes directly with Deutsche Telekom in Germany both in the fixed and mobile markets, said it "views it as positive that BNetzA will be required to submit separately to the Commission its detailed plans concerning both the quality and prices for the access product in order to avoid harm to competition."
Nonetheless, the U.K.-based telco could not resist reiterating its position that vectored VDSL is no substitute for a truly next-generation network.
"The optimum outcome for German businesses and consumers – and across the EU as a whole – would be the rapid deployment of world-class, future-proof and competitive networks capable of gigabit speeds, rather than short-term incremental upgrades to outmoded copper networks," Vodafone said.
Good news for Vodafone’s fixed-line customers then. Since the telco is so keen for gigabit networks to proliferate, it must surely be preparing the imminent upgrade of its hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) network to gigabit-capable DOCSIS 3.1.
A Vodafone spokeswoman told Total Telecom that her company is currently rolling out 400-Mbps cable broadband, and the service is available to approximately 4 million households. It has yet to start rolling out DOCSIS 3.1.
This story was updated at 13:35 to include further comments from Vodafone.
