Regulating Service Providers' Access to an FTTN Network

Abstract

To date, the major deployments of FTTN or its fibre-rich cousin, Fibre to the Premises, have been driven by clear government policy (Republic of Korea, Japan) or competitive pressure from cable television companies (US, Netherlands — planned). Without these pressures, the business case for deploying FTTN is uncertain. The additional revenues from higher-speed internet access are likely to be slight, and new revenues from pay television are uncertain and likely to develop only over the medium term. The business case for investing perhaps A$9 billion or more for an extensive FTTN deployment in Australia is therefore weak. National governments, however, see many benefits in widespread deployment of high internet access speeds and may provide incentives for FTTN deployments if competitive pressures are absent. This article explains some of these incentives in the Australian context, especially the steps taken so far to regulate access to the fibre networks proposed by Telstra and the so-called G9 consortium.