Finland’s regulator imposes price caps to boost broadband competition

High wholesale prices impede competition in the broadband market, so the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA) is imposing price caps on fibre local loops provided by the three market leaders in Finland, and regulation on copper local loops will be scaled down. FICORA has analysed the Finnish broadband market and given decisions on significant market power (SMP) concerning 21 telecoms operators, imposing 3-year price caps on the fibre local loops of DNA Oyj, Elisa and Telia Finland. This will reduce the wholesale prices these operators charge from competing operators by 28% to 80%. DNA, Elisa and Telia hold almost 90% of the Finnish local loop market.

“Targeting the fibre prices of these operators with ex ante regulation benefits the market and society the most”, FICORA’s director-general Kirsi Karlamaa explains. FICORA will also streamline regulation on copper local loops. The copper networks continue to serve a large population base, but demand is declining, and so are investments in the technology. Companies have also committed to keeping copper local loop prices stable in the near future through self-regulation. The aim of the imposed obligations is to improve competitive opportunities in the broadband market. Read more

• Thursday, 22 March 2018