There European Commission has long been pushing for the adoption of ultra-wide band on the Continent, but now it is official: the connections in copper they should be eliminated, not only to allow the transition to a new type of services, but also to achieve climate objectives (speaking of fibre, do you know how to check coverage?).
The document, a White Paper entitled “How to master Europe’s digital infrastructure needs?” is quite ambitious, as it involves a complete switch to fiber to implement technologies that “will take us to the world of tomorrow: telemedicine, automated driving, predictive building maintenance or precision agriculture”.
This involves the disposal of copper connections (a real “switch-off“) for the80% of users in Europe by 2028, a value that must reach 100% by 2030.
Investors are therefore warned, but the resolution, as necessary for improve connections and get more infrastructure sustainable due to lower energy consumption, it necessarily requires the coordination of all interested parties, including regulatory bodies, in order to safeguard everyone’s needs.
For this reason it is necessary that this divestment plan is monitored by the Communications Authoritybut there is a problem: Italy has not yet started this process.
In 2023 in theory i main operators fixed line connections of 16 EU member states (including Italy) had announced divestment plans of their copper networks, a process that has only actually started in 10 countries. It does not appear among these Italy, whose copper switch-off process is therefore already delayed, at least according to plans.
However, Europe is not categorical in adopting the fiber at all costs, and envisages a scenario that allows the networks to be decommissioned copper, but not by replacing them with fiber networks but, in areas where this is not possible, with ad networks fixed wireless access (FWA) based on 5G.
The document also presents scenarios for attracting investments, to promote innovation, increase the safety and make a real one digital single market.
However, this goal could be undermined by differences in the pace of fiber attainment, which could lead to smaller, more localized markets.
The Commission has initiated a public consultation on the 12 scenarios set out in the white paper, which will close on 30 June 2024, while observations will be published and will contribute to future policy actions.
