Actions to reduce the costs of deployment of high-speed electronic communications networks

KEY POINTS

The main pillars of the directive are as follows:

1. Access to existing physical infrastructure
   • EU countries should ensure that network operators¹ (telecoms, as well as energy, transport and water) give telecoms operators access to their physical infrastructure.
   • Network operators are required to give access to their physical infrastructure, on reasonable terms and conditions, including price.
2. Coordination of civil works
   • EU countries should ensure that network operators negotiate agreements with telecoms operators in order to coordinate civil works.
   • If this work is financed from the public purse, network operators have to meet any reasonable and timely request for coordination as long as this will not entail any additional costs and will not impede coordination control. This implies that any incremental costs associated with co-deployment must be recovered, or else the request could be denied.
   • For negotiating agreement on the coordination of civil works, EU countries shall require any network operator to make available, upon the request of a provider of public communications networks, certain minimum information concerning ongoing or planned civil works: (a) the location and the type of works; (b) the network elements involved; (c) the estimated date for starting the works and their duration; and (d) a contact point.
3. Transparency

   In order to improve the deployment process, EU countries must ensure that the undertakings deploying ECN have access to a minimum amount of information about the existing physical infrastructure, such as:

   • location and route,
   • type/use of infrastructure,
   • a contact point.

Providing such information will ensure that the costs of these projects are kept to a minimum (for example by accessing physical infrastructure that already exists and by coordinating engineering works). The access to this minimum information may be limited for the following reasons:

• security of the networks and their integrity;
• national security;
• public health or safety; and
• confidentiality or operating and business secrets.

Permit granting

• EU countries have to ensure that all relevant information concerning conditions and procedures for granting permits for civil works needed for the deployment of ECN must be available via a single information point.
• EU countries may allow permit applications to be submitted electronically.
• Permit decisions should be made within 4 months and any refusal to grant a permit should be fully justified.

Buildings ready to deploy high-speed networks

• New buildings and major renovations must be equipped with physical infrastructure (such as mini-ducts) capable of hosting high-speed ECN. Constructions must have an access point and be easily accessible by the providers of public communications networks. This must be done in a technology-neutral way (i.e. the infrastructure should neither require nor assume a particular technology). Exemptions are possible (for example for monuments or holiday houses).
• The providers have the right to reach the access point under fair and non-discriminatory terms and conditions.

Out-of-court procedures

EU countries must put in place out-of-court procedures for the timely resolution of disputes arising from the application of the directive.

Penalties

EU countries must lay down rules on penalties in case of non compliance with the national measures adopted pursuant to this directive. The penalties provided shall be appropriate, effective, proportionate, and dissuasive.

Recommendation on toolbox to aid economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis

In September 2020, the European Commission adopted a recommendation providing guidance to EU countries on how to develop and agree, by 30 March 2021, a toolbox of common best practices to facilitate the deployment of very-high-capacity fixed and wireless networks by removing unnecessary administrative hurdles, and by the coordinated assignment of radio spectrum for the fifth-generation (5G) networks under investment-friendly conditions, in particular for industrial cross-border cases. Consequently, EU countries should communicate an implementation roadmap (30 April 2021) to the Commission and should report on the toolbox’s implementation (30 April 2022).