TELECOMMUNICATIONS/FROM COPPER TO FIBRE : INCUMBENTS AT ODDS WITH ALTERNATIVE OPERATORS.

The roll-out of fibre may not really get under way as long as copper networks exist, warns ECTA, the European association of alternative operators, which more specifically accuses the owners of these networks - the incumbent operators - of not making the move to this technology. That accusation is rejected by the incumbents, which are increasing their investments in fibre, but which are also opposed to forcing consumers to migrate to fibre.

The figures are eloquent. Although the level of broadband internet penetration continues to rise in the European Union (27.2% in June 2011), the development of ultra-fast connections is still marginal, according to a recent working document of the Communications Committee (Cocom), which assists the European Commission in its telecommunications work(1). The study shows that lines based on fibre to the home solutions (FTTH) are still marginal at only 2% of all lines in Europe. In contrast, DSL technology, which allows high-speed connections by means of copper pairs, continues to account for around 75% of market shares.

Why is the roll-out of fibre making little headway? "One of the reasons is that most fibre networks have not been deployed by dominant firms [incumbent operators] but by competitors," according to Ilsa Godlovitch of ECTA. According to the Fibre to the Home Council Europe, in June 2011, these competitors, together with multisystem operators (MSO), accounted for nearly 55% of the deployment of FTTH and FTTB (fibre to the building), compared with 33% for incumbent operators(2).

Alternative operators can develop their own fibre networks, but as long as the incumbent operators keep their copper networks users will not migrate to this new technology, which nonetheless offers better services, explains Godlovitch. This is so for the...