The National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) has proposed raise to 592 the number of municipalities in which Telefonica is not obliged to provide access wholesaler to its fiber network to other operators, compared to the current 66, according to the new regulation of wholesale broadband markets.
The CNMC has approved launching a public consultation for the Regulation of Markets 3a / 3b, for those who have made a new proposal that seeks to achieve a balance between ensuring effective competition and promote investment in new generation networks (NGA), which allow you to enjoy very high-speed connections, mainly fiber optic.
In the analysis and definition of these markets, differentiated obligations are raised depending on the level of competition that exists in the different areas of the national territory, which the CNMC divides into competitive and non-competitive zones.
The current regulation for wholesale broadband markets dates from 2016, when the CNMC then established a competitive area in NGA networks of 66 large municipalities (35% of the population), in which Telefónica is not obliged to provide wholesale access to its fiber network.
However, he remarks that, while in 2015 fiber lines represented 23% of the market, currently it accounts for about 70%. In addition, it adds that competitive pressure from the market has increased considerably and Telefónica continues to lose market share in the fixed broadband access retail market, from 43.1% in 2015 to 38% in 2020.
It also highlights that since the last review there has been the effective entry of a fourth national operator, MásMóvil, which has been configured as an alternative to Telefónica, Orange and Vodafone on a national scale. In addition, he adds that Euskaltel, with the launch of Virgin, and Digi, are other operators that have expanded their offerings in terms of product and geographic scope compared to 2016.
Therefore, in the new 2020 regulation, the CNMC proposes to expand the competitive zone to 592 municipalities, in which 67% of the Spanish population resides, while the rest of the municipalities would form part of the non-competitive zone.
COMPETITIVE ZONE
The Commission explains that the competitive zone is characterized by high competition in infrastructure based on NGA networks, since in each of these 592 municipalities, Telefónica’s share in the broadband retail market is less than 50% and there are at least three NGA networks with a minimum coverage of 20%.
In this area, the CNMC proposes that Telefónica maintain its obligations of access to civil works infrastructure , as well as the unbundled access obligations to the copper pair. However, it does not impose wholesale access obligations on its fiber network.
In this sense, it explains that access to civil infrastructure allows alternative operators to make use of the conduits and poles of the Telefónica network, so that they can deploy their fiber optic networks from Telefónica’s head exchanges to the homes of end users.
The CNMC argues that This regulatory measure is “fundamental” for the deployment of fiber networks of alternative operatorsAs well as that unbundled access to the copper pair is a wholesale physical access to the traditional copper access network that is provided at the local exchange level. NON COMPETITIVE AREA
In the rest of the territory (7,539 municipalities), the CNMC proposes, in addition to the aforementioned services, the imposition of Telefonica to provide wholesale services of virtual unbundled access to fiber optic (local NEBA) and NEBA fiber broadband.
The CNMC explains that the difference between the two services is the proximity to the end customer, since the local NEBA is provided at the local fiber network head exchanges, while the connection point of the wholesaler NEBA fiber service is more away from the client (there is one connection point per province).
In addition to these services, in the 7,539 municipalities, Telefonica is also required to provide indirect access services over copper called NEBA copper, regional and national ADSL IP.
Those interested now have one month to present their allegations to the public consultation. After analyzing the comments received, the CNMC will approve a draft measure that will be sent to the European Commission, as well as to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation.
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