The heads of some of Europe’s biggest fibre operators argued planned changes to European Union (EU) regulations would erode the region’s global digital standing and pressed the authority to discuss ways to build the confidence needed for future investments.

Vodafone Group, Bouygues Telecom, Eurofiber, Open Fiber, Fastweb and Vodafone, CK Hutchison Group, Iliad Group, Colt Technology Services and 1&1 bosses co-signed a call noting concern over an EU proposal to relax regulation on former fixed monopolies.

The companies’ chiefs believe the proposal would deregulate wholesale markets and encourage fresh monopolies to form, undoing years of regulatory efforts to promote fixed line competition and the operators’ investments.

Uncertainty is already being created which could undermine near-term investment and growth, the group argued. Shifts from copper to fibre networks are particularly vulnerable to any deregulation, they stated.

The companies pointed out fixed infrastructure is something of a de facto monopoly because the ducts and poles involved are “impossible to fully replicate”. Wholesale access to incumbent operators’ assets is therefore essential.

Removing potential wholesale access to the infrastructure risks the pace of full fibre deployments and, in turn, provision of services with gigabit-level data rates to consumers and businesses, they asserted.

The operator chiefs pressed the European authority to preserve an ex-ante regulation model, arguing this would spur competition and investment along with boosting consumer choice. Access to physical infrastructure is a must-have, the bosses stated, along with completing the Digital Networks Act before amending the fixed line rules.