Gigabit Infrastructure Act (GIA)

KEY POINTS

Access to existing physical infrastructure and coordinating civil works

• Single information points are set up for network operators and public sector bodies to make available minimum information about:
  • existing physical infrastructure, including the georeferenced location, type and use of the infrastructure;
  • planned civil works.
• Public sector bodies and network operators must meet reasonable requests made by operators for deploying VHCN or associated facilities, including:
  • on-site surveys of specific elements of their physical infrastructure;
  • access to their infrastructure under fair and reasonable terms and conditions, including price; in addition, public sector bodies owning or controlling physical infrastructure will apply non-discriminatory terms and conditions;
  • coordinating civil works to deploy VHCNs, provided they do not incur unrecoverable additional costs or delays.
• Access to this information can be refused, for example, for reasons of technical unsuitability, safety, national security or lack of space.
• Legal persons involved in land management and tenants or holders of rights other than property rights must negotiate access to land in good faith, reflecting market conditions.

Permits and rights of way

• EU Member States must make their best efforts to facilitate VHCN deployment by ensuring consistent rules and procedures for granting permits and rights of way across national territory.
• Operators have the right to submit applications for permits or rights of way electronically and to retrieve information on an application’s status via the single information points.
• Permits must be granted or refused within 4 months; extensions of this time frame are limited.
• In the cases of repair and maintenance works limited in scope and of small-scale deployment of civil works, operators will benefit from a permit-free regime.
• As the default option, in the absence of a decision from the competent authority within the applicable deadline, the permit will be deemed to be granted. The Member States may derogate from this where operators have the right to claim compensation or to challenge delays before courts and/or supervisory bodies if the prescribed deadlines are not met. In addition, a mandatory conciliation mechanism as an intermediate step should be introduced to ensure timely follow-up.

In-building infrastructure and fibre

• From February 2026, all new buildings and those undergoing major renovations must be equipped with fibre-ready in-building physical infrastructure and in-building fibre wiring and, in the case of multi-dwelling buildings, with access points.
• Member States must adopt relevant standards for in-building fibre-ready infrastructure by November 2025.
• Providers of public electronic communications networks have the right to access existing in-building physical infrastructure if duplication is technically impossible or economically inefficient.
• Requests for access must be met under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions.
• Buildings equipped with fibre-ready infrastructure can receive a ‘fibre-ready’ label.

Digitalisation and transparency

• Single information points must make available appropriate digital tools to enable the online exercise of all rights and compliance with all the obligations set out in the regulation.
• Member States must establish a single national digital entry point for seamless access to digitalised information points.

Dispute settlement

• National dispute settlement bodies must be established to resolve disputes related to access to infrastructure, coordination of civil works and access to in-building physical infrastructure.
• Disputes must be resolved within specified deadlines, with decisions published while respecting confidentiality.

Monitoring, penalties and review

• Member States must designate competent bodies to carry out the tasks outlined in the regulation, ensuring these bodies are independent and have adequate resources.
• The tasks and responsibilities of these bodies must be published via a single information point.
• Member States must set out rules on penalties for infringing the regulation, ensuring they are effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
• By 12 November 2025, Member States must set out indicators on which they will regularly report to the European Commission.
• The Commission must present a report to the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on the regulation’s implementation by May 2028, including an assessment of progress towards its objectives.

Intra-EU communications

The GIA regulation amends Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 (see summary) in relation to intra-EU communications (calls and SMSs placed from the home Member State to another Member State). New rules contained in Article 17 of the GIA regulation ensure continued protection of vulnerable consumers from the risk of potentially excessive prices for such services until 2032 and provide for a full phase-out of surcharges for intra-EU communications by 2029 and a market-driven mechanism for voluntary phase-out from 2025.

Repeal

The regulation amends Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 (see summary). The GIA repeals Directive 2014/61/EU (see summary). This directive’s provisions will remain applicable until the corresponding GIA provisions apply.