French telecom regulator Arcep has published a consultation on new measures aimed at preventing certain practices by operators that risk undermining coherent fibre deployments, particularly in regions of the country, outside very high-density population areas, covered by the AMII settlement agreed in 2011.
The regulator has identified three main risks to the goal of achieving consistent fibre roll-outs. The first is described as a pre-empting strategy from certain operators, namely the announcement of roll-out plans with no rapid follow-through to deter competitors from investing in the area. The second is inefficient network duplication, bringing fibre infrastructure to locations where another operator is already investing. The third is the threat from 'skimming' tactics, in which an operator selectively brings FTTH connectivity to the most profitable premises in a region while disregarding the most costly lines, thereby discouraging competition from rivals.
These draft recommendations follow the regulator’s assessment published in October 2017, prompted by a request from the French Senate. The consultation closes on 15 May.