Funding new fiber-optic network

To fund and deploy a new fiber-optic national network is not a tiny thing (tens of billions of Euro over more than ten years for France), and France tries to avoid concerns with the European Union. It is the reason why the French regulator recommends that FT grants access to all operators on its existing fiber network, at a price that would enable it to amass enough resources to fund investment into a new fiber network. It is an ideal solution on the paper, but up to now FT has clearly said that it wants to go alone. As in Germany or Australia, conflicting interests are on the table and regulatory agencies (national or European) are currently unable to find an acceptable consensus by all parties. In Germany, the telecom regulator Bundesnetzagentur made the same approach. It said that Deutsche Telekom cannot prove that the products on offer on the high-speed network constitute a new market, an argument that could have exempted the network from regulation.

The risk here is to delay decision and finally to be late in the market. Telcos need new network capacities/ capabilities to offer new broadband services to survive and compete with cable systems or WiFi/WiMAX services. To be late means offering free market space to those competing technologies and weakening telcos' competitive position. It is part of the global goal to increase competitive pressure and drag down tariffs for the end-users.