Fibercop: operators join forces against network price rises
Fastweb+Vodafone, Iliad, Sky and Wind Tre write to Agcom: price rises of up to 500 per cent for number porting
Key points
The first trial of Fibercop’s wholesale-only service has turned into a political and regulatory row. Just a few weeks after the publication of the price lists on 15 April, the operators have closed ranks against the network operator, which is accused of having used the deregulation granted by AGCOM not to open up the market, but to raise prices where it remains strongest.
The letter to AGCOM
According to Sole 24 Ore, Fastweb+Vodafone, Wind Tre, Iliad and Sky Italia have sent a letter to Agcom. It is a letter that is harsh in tone and severe in its conclusions. The operators speak of ‘extremely serious issues’ and ‘extremely high and unjustified’ increases. Above all, however, they contest the principle: Fibercop is the first former European incumbent to have secured a reduction in its obligations by presenting itself as a neutral entity, separate from TIM and operating solely at the wholesale level. Now, according to its competitors, the price lists appear to show that anti-competitive incentives have not disappeared.
The key point of the document goes far beyond simply challenging the prices. The operators argue, in fact, that ‘the prices published by Fibercop show that the concerns raised by the market were indeed well-founded’ and that the risks arising from the relaxation of regulatory obligations ‘are already materialising’.
‘Anti-competitive move’
The disputed price rises mainly affect areas where Fibercop continues to operate as a monopoly or near-monopoly and relate to essential services such as copper, dark fibre, co-location and Semi-Vula. The letter cites price rises of up to 500 per cent for deactivation charges when a line is transferred to a competing FTTH network, increases of up to 230 per cent for the termination of FTTH lines, rises of over 50 per cent for co-location, with peaks of 600 per cent for line conditioning, and rises of up to 2,000 per cent for certain technical services.
According to industry players, this has a twofold effect. On the one hand, it creates ‘barriers to end-users’ mobility to other wholesale networks’; on the other, it makes ‘wholesale passive services economically unsustainable’, thereby discouraging infrastructure investment by competitors.
