Implications of the regulation in the implantation process of next generation networks in Spain: analysis in rural versus urban regions

Abstract

A regulatory regime is dynamic and adapts to all aspects of market evolution: infrastructure development, service catalogue, delivery conditions, market shares of operators and opportunities provided by technology. The present article analyses implications of the regulation of next generation networks (NGN) in two well differentiated areas in Spain: rural versus urban. Regulation will be applied to fixed networks and broadband Internet access services provided with them, and, within fixed networks, those that have come into existence as a result of access network technologies based on fiber optics. The results can serve as a reference for obtaining a better overview and reaching conclusions regarding what has been a global action over the current period in time for the electronic communications market within the European Union. The conclusions speak of a successful model because objectives to date (2017) are being reached, except for the purely economic aspect of return on investments. A long-term time frame is expected to be in place until 2023. With regard to the future, regulation must continue to address issues that were not issues initially, but which have become fundamental and have begun to be addressed: geographical discrimination, fiber loop unbundling, new wholesale prices resulting from adapting reference offers, and greater control of retail services. As a case of study, this article discusses what is happening in the province of Soria, where there are large uninhabited areas with a high percentage of the territory where the broadband infrastructure is very limited. This situation is opposed in the urban areas where the deployment of new NGN is moving forward quickly.