Deutsche Telekom (DT) still dominates the unbundled local loop (U...

An issue of concern to DT rivals is replacement or overbuild of copper connections by glass fiber, said telecom lawyer Axel Spies, representing the German Competitive Carriers Assn. (VATM). When DT deploys its VDSL fiber network, it aims to install fiber in place of copper connections between its central offices and remote terminals. The company runs 8,000 central offices and 300,000 remote terminals in Germany, Spies said. According to BNetzA, that will give rivals access to the fiber cable between the central office and remote terminal and to the incumbents’ empty ducts and pipes to install their own cables, Spies said. BNetzA Pres. Matthias Kurth was quoted as saying, “This is a step to make alternative investments in the build-out of new glass fiber infrastructures possible at reasonable cost.” The decision is a step in the right direction, VATM said, but it warned there’s still a long way to go. Besides access to the loops and glass fiber connection joining the central office and remote terminal, “competitors demand access to the loops directly at the remote terminal and further access to hybrid loops -- fiber combined with copper -- at central offices,” Spies said: “Otherwise, infrastructure competition will not thrive and new competitive services such as triple play (telephony, TV and Internet) won’t reach the end-user.”