Anacom released yesterday the public consultation report on the regulatory approach to new access networks, launched in June last year.
Joining the responses of two dozen entities, the report also includes the position of the regulator in relation to the regulatory approach of next generation networks.
Revealing two radically different positions in terms of regulatory approach, the report shows that PT intends to «regulatory vacation», breaking with the current regulatory logic, while the other operators want to extend the current regulatory philosophy to the development of these networks.
Although it is still a preliminary position, Anacom’s position takes into account the costs of developing Next Generation Networks – especially installation – and concludes that these create an asymmetry in the process, favorable to PT.
That is why he admits that «the main regulatory concern must be to eliminate this asymmetry, taking into account the diversity of conditions prevailing in the availability and occupation of this network support infrastructure».
Access to ducts and the elimination of vertical barriers – of installation inside buildings – are also two of the issues considered in the report, the first of which is being prepared within the scope of the Government’s legislative responsibility so that, in addition to PT’s ducts, other passive infrastructures that facilitate the passage of fiber are also open.
In relation to infrastructures within buildings (vertical infrastructures), Anacom’s concern is to prevent the creation of monopoly situations for a given operator in this access, so the solution must be to install a distribution box that everyone can access. connect your network.
The document also conveys Anacom’s position regarding the development of new generation networks in less competitive areas, where a single network can be installed or where the private sector has no incentives to invest.
In these cases, measures to foster competition are foreseen to avoid monopolies or info-exclusion.
These measures may include complementary access to other solutions, such as access to optical fiber or dark fiber, as well as virtual access to the network.
Anacom stresses at the beginning of the document that the positions transmitted in the report should be understood as «a starting point and a guideline for the regulatory approach».
A final position by the regulator on this matter is now awaited, but there is no date set for this to be revealed.
