18 March, 2015
Press Release: Unlocking fibre roll-out: let’s make the most of the 2013 Recommendation
ETNO, the Association representing Europe’s leading telecom operators, has presented today a Charles River Associates report on “Economic Replicability Testing for NGA Services” [Download the report here].
Back in 2013, the European Commission approved a key legislative document which constitutes a first step in the path towards boosting investment in Next Generation Access services: the “Recommendation on consistent non-discrimination obligations and costing methodologies to promote competition and enhance the broadband investment environment” [available at this link].
Almost two years into the implementation, the Charles River Associates report proposes a consistent and proportionate approach to promoting efficient investment and safeguarding competition when applying Economic Replicability Testing, a key feature of the recommendation.
The report feeds into the debate on future measures to incentivise investment in superfast broadband and provides strategic input at a time in which National Regulatory Authorities are working to implement the 2013 Recommendation.
Steven Tas, ETNO Chairman, said: “Unlocking fibre investment depends on both bold reform of the telecoms regulatory framework and on the enforcement of recent rules. Let’s make the most of the 2013 Recommendation by ensuring its swift and accurate implementation. Europe cannot afford delays: the digital race is on, and fibre needs to get rolling fast”.
Geoff Edwards, Charles River Associates’ Vice-president, said: “Promoting efficient investment in NGA infrastructure while safeguarding competition is a vital policy objective. Our Report offers concrete recommendations on how to implement economic replicability tests to achieve this.”
The approach recommended by Charles River Associates is guided by the spirit of the 2013 Recommendation and offers suggestions for achieving a consistent and proportionate implementation of Economic Replicability Testing, with a view to contributing to the achievement of the Commission’s goals on deployment of faster networks.
Useful links
The executive summary and the full report can be found here.
ETNO Chairman's speech delivered at the presentation event can be found here.
