European incumbents seek to escape VDSL regulation

摘要

An overwhelming number of Europe's telecoms incumbents support the position of Germany's Deutsche Telekom in arguing that new high-speed local networks based on VDSL should be exempt from regulation. The predominant view of most incumbents is that current EU telecoms regulation deters them from investing in high-speed networks using fibre-to-the-curb and then VDSL for the last leg to the home (TM, 21 Feb, 2006). They argue that existing rules on unbundling or wholesale access that regulate ADSL broadband networks should not apply in the future to higher-speed networks, at least not for some time after launch.