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The EU is said to be considering plans to relax regulations surrounding the telecoms market in order to to encourage the rollout of fast broadband technologies such as fibre into rural areas.
Among the proposals outlined in a leaked document are a relaxation of the rules governing state aid to broadband suppliers. Currently, the EU's open access policy means that any organisation that uses government funds to help roll out broadband connectivity - such as BT - is required to ensure that other service providers can buy access to this infrastructure at a reasonable rate.
The document indicates the EU is considering allowing greater use of closed networks, where this access is not mandated. This could be potentially significant, as some operators feel that given the huge cost and risk of deploying high-speed connectivity to remote areas, the rewards on offer do not justify this if they are forced to give access to competitors.
Although the UK voted to leave the bloc earlier this year, the recent confirmation by prime minister Theresa May that the government will not trigger Article 50 until next year means it will be early 2019 before Brexit is complete, so the UK will still be covered by the rules of the body for some time.
ISP Review noted that even after this, the UK telecoms sector could still potentially be affected by some regulations, so the UK market will still need to pay close attention to what is going on in Brussels.
Among the other changes that are being proposed are plans to encourage greater investment in fibre-to-the-premises technology, by ensuring that operators that co-invest in shared rollouts of this technology are rewarded with lighter regulations.
The EU could also move to put more power back in the hands of national regulators such as Ofcom. However, these bodies "would need to keep a tight hold and have the power to sanction operators that deviate from their declared intentions without justification."
Operators that adopt a 'wholesale-only' model, which sees them sell access to their networks only to other firms, without offering retail broadband packages directly to consumers, will also benefit from lighter rules.
ISP Review noted that if the EU moves forward with these proposals, the challenge will be to ensure that the right balance between regulation and market freedom is struck, in order to avoid the creation of more de facto "mini local monopolies" similar to those seen in parts of the US, or by KCOM in Hull.
Improving the reach of high-speed broadband capabilities is a key plank of the EU's telecom's strategy, with the body expected to introduce a series of new targets in the near future that will call for every household in Europe to be able to receive speeds of at least 100Mbps by 2025, with businesses and public sector organisations set to expect speeds in excess of 1Gbps by this time.
