European Commission Looks To ‘Burn’ Red Tape For Fibre Broadband Rollouts

A law proposed by the European Commission on Tuesday would streamline processes for rolling out high-speed broadband networks across Europe, saving up to €60 billion (£50.7bn) and reducing the investment burden faced by the region’s debt-laden telecommunications companies.

The move comes amidst planned cuts to the EU’s budget for digital projects, which in February were reduced from 9.2 billion euros to 1 billion euros, leaving nothing remaining for broadband.

Cutting red tape

The draft regulations would require telecoms firms to put mini mini-ducting into any  new and renovated housings, so they are broadband-ready, and would oblige them to share infrastructure such as ducts, conduits, manholes, cabinets, poles and masts on “fair and reasonable” terms. Utilities companies would also be obliged to share underground infrastructure with telecommunications companies, helping to cut rollout costs.

The regulations would also shorten and standardise the process of applying for local planning permission for civil engineering works, obliging local authorities to grant or refuse permits within six months by default.

Transparency for works would be improved by the creation of a single information point for a set of minimum information concerning the existing infrastructure, while network operators would also be required to provide basic information on their ongoing or planned civil engineering works via a single information point, helping other operators who are accessing the same sites.

The European Commission estimates that civil engineering works – that is, the physical work that goes into laying new infrastructure – accounts for up to 80 percent of the cost of deploying high-speed broadband networks, and argued the new measures could cut the cost of rollouts by 30 percent.

Indispensable utility

“The high cost of building new broadband infrastructure and relatively low density of demand in isolated and remote places, has sometimes deterred telecom companies from investing,” stated Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes. “Everyone deserves fast broadband. I want to burn the red tape that is stopping us for getting there.”

She said fast broadband is now comparable to utilities such as electricity or running water.

The European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association (ETNO) welcomed the proposed rules but called for further reforms that would give operators “more flexibility to develop new business models”. ETNO also called on the Commission to target “bottlenecks” such as rural areas.

A rival organisation representing telecommunications operators that challenge former state-owned telcos, the European Competitive Telecommunication Association (ECTA), agreed that the reduction in costs aimed at by the EC’s proposed law would “speed up the deployment of open networks and the provision of competitive communication services to businesses and consumers”.

The Commission said it hopes the proposals, which must be approved by the European Parliament and the European Council, will be finalised next year. The EC is looking to get at least 50 percent of EU households connected to broadband networks with speeds of 100Mbps by 2020.

The European Union in December gave its blessing to the Broadband Development UK (BDUK) scheme, which seeks to fund the deployment of superfast broadband into rural regions of the nation.

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