Fibercop, new price lists for telcos and leverage for Ftth fibre
After Agcom's recognition of the company, which belongs to a consortium led by Kkr, as a wholesale only operator, fewer constraints and revised price lists
The new regulatory framework opens a different phase for Fibercop. In mid-March, Agcom recognised the company as a 'wholesale only' operator, i.e. one active exclusively in the provision of wholesale services, effectively sanctioning the definitive transition from the integrated model of the past to a separate and neutral one. A transition that stems from the separation of the fixed network from Tim, operational from July 2024, and that has led the Authority to classify Fibercop as a player active 'only in the market for wholesale access services' within the meaning of the Electronic Communications Code.
The recognition is not only formal. Agcom, in a decision approved on 11 March and also supported by the Antitrust Authority and the EU Commission, updated the entire analysis of fixed network markets, granting Fibercop the status of 'wholesale only' operator and redefining its regulatory obligations accordingly.
Loading...
In concrete terms, the company no longer operates on the retail market and has no vertical integration with end operators, configuring itself as a neutral infrastructure available to all operators. This allows an easing of constraints compared to the past, replaced by obligations of access, non-discrimination and fair and reasonable prices.
It is precisely on this basis that the proposed revision of the wholesale price lists now under consideration by the Authority fits in. With this pricing manoeuvre, Fibercop appears to want to claim coherence with the new industrial set-up and with a 10 billion euro investment plan over the four-year period 2024-2027 for an advanced, neutral and capillary network.
The heart of the proposal, however, is in the economic signal sent to the market: to encourage migration from copper to fibre. The prices of Fttc and copper services are expected to grow by 8.8% by the end of 2026, with a gradual realignment to the costs identified by Agcom in the previous market analysis. In the opposite direction, instead, would go the prices of Ftth services, expected to fall.
Brand connect
Loading...
