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Next generation (fibre) network markets in Europe have begun to enjoy government patronage thanks to favourable regulations and government investments. This advantage, along with the efforts of market participants, is expected to be the driver for uniform deployment of fibre in any country.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (ipcommunications.frost.com), Next Generation Networks in Europe, finds that the government and regulators need to act in a timely manner to create a favourable environment for the market. The telecom operators also have to collaborate to define quality fibre deployment goals that will benefit all of them and the country as a whole.
Consumers are increasingly demanding better quality of service (QoS) and this drives companies to invest in fibre networks. Many Asian and American countries are leaders in fibre deployments, and fibre networks are quite likely to become a parameter to define the development of a country.
"The European Commission is planning support for investments in fibre deployments so that Europe does not lag behind the rest of the world in this area," says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Jayashree Rajagopal. "The commission has put pressure on countries like Germany and Spain, which have encouraged regulatory holiday for incumbents for a long period, to lift the holiday and ensure that they follow a regulatory procedure that will encourage competition in the country markets."
If the regulations are not periodically reviewed, the competition in the market will be affected. For example, in Spain, Telefonica was granted regulatory holiday since it promised huge investments in fibre networks. However, since this regulation was not reviewed in time, a huge entry barrier was created for the other telecom operators.
Another point of concern for the market in general is that participants take little interest in strategizing deployments in rural regions due the lack of a business case. Telecom operators prefer operating in the cities where they feel that there is considerable demand for super-fast broadband services.
The rural regions are generally covered by municipalities as well as utility companies, and their initiatives are mostly scattered. Further, a large operator will be needed to consolidate the deployment activities.
Many telecom operators such as France Telecom are planning to invest in rural regions with the help of government funding. Similar efforts are needed from incumbents in other countries to ensure uniform fibre deployments.
"To be successful, government and regulators have to conduct periodic review of regulations and encourage combined efforts from governments, regulators and market participants - including telecom operators, cable operators, municipalities and utility companies," notes Rajagopal.
If you are interested in more information on this study, please send an email with your contact details to Joanna Lewandowska, Corporate Communications, at joanna.lewandowska[.]frost.com.
Next Generation Networks in Europe is part of the Communications Services Growth Partnership Services program, which also includes research in the following markets: Next Generation Networks in Scandinavia, Telco IT Mergers in Sub-sharan Africa and Cloud computing in South Africa and Kenya. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.
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