Vodafone on Wednesday said that fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) must become the norm, not the exception, if Europe is to be competitive against the likes of Japan, Singapore and South Korea.
The U.K.-based telco bemoaned the continuing dependence by incumbent operators on legacy technology, and called on the European Commission to intervene in order to enable effective competition between network providers.
"In an era of global competition for trade, business and investment, Europe’s continuing dependence on patchy and slow broadband over legacy copper telephone lines places it at a competitive disadvantage to advanced industrial nations such as Japan, Korea and Singapore that have facilitated widespread FTTH infrastructure," Vodafone said, in a statement.
"The successful economies of the future wi ll be founded on fibre," the telco continued. "This needs to become the norm, not the exception, if Europe is to prosper in a global digital economy."
Vodafone’s comments were made following its submission to the European Commission’s public consultation on the review of the regulatory framework for telecoms, which closed on Tuesday.
"European policymakers must focus on tackling the former state monopoly telecoms companies that have chosen to use their legacy copper networks to entrench their market dominance," Vodafone said.
As a minimum, Vodafone said the Commission should ensure that all operators have full and equivalent access to incumbents’ passive infrastructure, such as ducts and poles, in order to improve facilities-based competition.
The telco highlighted Portugal and Spain as leading examples of where effective passive infrastructure access (PIA) regulations have stimulated investment in fibre.
Indeed, Vodafone recently confirmed a €125 million plan to expand its Portuguese FTTH network, and reiterated its commitment to connecting 2 million premises in Spain through its co-investment with rival Orange.
Vodafone also recently began offering gigabit FTTH services in Ireland via its Siro joint venture with electricity supplier ESB. It also revealed it is in talks with Italian electricity provider Enel about building a nationwide wholesale fibre network.
"By contrast, countries such as the U.K. and Germany remain stranded in the copper age," Vodafone said. "The focus of incumbents in those countries is on monetising outdated technology for their own ends, not meeting the 21st century needs of their customers."
Vodafone has been a vocal supporter of forcing BT’s infrastructure arm Openreach to open up its dark fibre network to rival operators. On Wednesday, Vodafone also urged the Commission to supp ort its call for the structural separation of BT and Openreach, and for the latter to offer PIA.
"The decisions the European Commission makes now about Europe’s digital future will shape the lives and economies of Europe’s citizens for generations to come," Vodafone said.
