Tratos lends its support to the FTTH Council Europe position on fake fibre marketing – and its welcome for the new EECC legislative telecommunications framework for regulatory certainty and a Gigabit Europe.
Tratos’ support followed today’s announcement in the European Parliament:
As European Parliament gives legislative push to fibre and 5G the FTTH Council Europe warns against fake fibre marketing
Brussels, 14 November 2018 – Today the European Parliament gathered in plenary session in Strasbourg approved the new European Electronic Communications Code, which will soon become the new legislative framework for telecommunications.
The FTTH Council Europe welcomes this vote on a new framework which provides the National Regulatory Authorities with the guidance and the tools to reflect Europe’s ambition to become a fully connected Gigabit Society.
“While the entire ecosystem is changing, with Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality applications leading the innovation path, Europe needs to step up its efforts and give a real push to infrastructure investments in Europe. We believe the Code creates a more investment-friendly environment as well as ensures the regulatory certainty needed to foster efficient and competitive investments in future-proof digital infrastructures, not only from traditional business models but also from new innovative infrastructure models, e.g. wholesale-only” stressed Ronan Kelly, President of the FTTH Council Europe.
These digital highways will be the key foundation of a European Gigabit Society and the FTTH Council Europe commends the co-legislators for placing the promotion of investments and take-up in very-high capacity networks based on fibre or equivalent[1] at the core of the objectives of the new framework.
“We believe that fibre is the only future-proof foundation enabling fixed and wireless gigabit networks as well as all new innovative digital technologies and services, however the words “fibre” and “fibre speeds” are increasingly used in advertisement while the advertised product is not genuinely a full fibre connection but still uses copper at some points of the network” highlighted Erzsébet Fitori, Director General of the FTTH Council Europe. This confusion is misleading for the consumers and prevents them from making an informed choice about the products available to them, and also risks hindering fibre take-up, which could in turn affect innovation and weaken the business case for investments”.
The FTTH Council Europe therefore calls on the policy-makers to take the necessary actions to prevent misleading fibre advertisement. It is not only in the interest of the citizens and the businesses but also in the interest of Europe’s global digital competitiveness and sustainability that fibre-related products are not subject to misleading advertisement.
[1] ‘very high capacity network’ means either an electronic communications network which consists wholly of optical fibre elements at least up to the distribution point at the serving location or […] similar network performance […]
About the FTTH Council Europe
The FTTH Council Europe is an industry organisation with a mission to accelerate ubiquitous fibre-based connectivity empowering a leading Digital Society throughout Europe. The FTTH Council Europe’s vision is that fibre connectivity will transform and enhance the way we live, do business and interact, connecting everyone and everything, everywhere.
Fibre-based infrastructure is the only future-proof foundation enabling fixed and wireless gigabit networks as well as all new innovative digital technologies and services and the prerequisite for Europe’s global digital competitiveness and sustainability.
For more information contact us.
The FTTH Council Europe consists of more than 150 member companies. www.ftthcouncil.eu
Contact:
Aurélie Bladocha Coelho
Director Communications and Public Affairs
aurelie.bladocha-coelho@ftthcouncil.eu Tel: +32 478 78 61 00
