The CNMC has just published the response to a query from Orange regarding the denial of permits by homeowners' associations for the deployment of its fiber optic network in buildings without common telecommunications infrastructure (ICT) (CNS/DTSA/960/22).
In general, the installation of final sections of ultra-fast fixed access networks, including fiber optics, in buildings and real estate complexes already built is regulated in article 55 of Law 11/2022, of June 28, General Telecommunications Law (LGTel).
Assumptions:
1) What happens if the operator is the first to want to install fiber optics in a building?
In buildings erected up to 1998, ICT installations inside were not a priority. Only after the approval that year of a Royal Decree establishing ICT regulations was it possible for buildings to have spaces specifically designed to house the equipment and cabling of telecommunications operators.
Thus, if an operator wants to install its fiber optic network in a building and there is no existing ICT infrastructure, it must notify the building's owners' association in writing and describe the planned work before beginning any installation. If the association does not respond within one month, the operator is authorized to install the network. If the association states that it will install an ICT infrastructure within three months of the response date, the operator must wait. If the association does not carry out the installation within that timeframe, the operator is authorized to begin the network installation.
2) What happens to the second and subsequent operators that want to deploy fiber optics in a building?
If an operator has already started or completed the deployment of a final segment of its fiber optic network in a building without ICT infrastructure, subsequent operators are also directly authorized to deploy final segments of the fiber optic network in that building. The same applies if an operator intends to deploy a network segment to provide continuity to an installation intended to provide access in adjacent or nearby buildings or properties subject to horizontal property ownership regulations, if no other economically efficient and technically viable alternative is justified.
In both cases, the interested operator must notify the homeowners' association in advance, along with a description of the work to be carried out, at least one month prior. After this period, the operator may proceed with the installation without further formality other than informing the homeowners' association of the specific start date.
3) What if operators want to share the installation?
Operators are free to decide whether to install their own final network segments in a building without ICT infrastructure, regardless of whether another operator in that building has already installed their own final network segments, or to share the vertical segment of the access networks of one of the operators already installed in the building. The technical and economic conditions for accessing these segments in these cases are set out in this Resolution of February 12, 2009, which approves the imposition of symmetrical access obligations on electronic communications operators in relation to the fiber optic networks they own and deploy inside buildings.
This resolution states that, regardless of the technical solution installed by the first operator when laying its fiber optic access network in a building without ICT infrastructure, it must allow other operators to share the deployed access network segment and ensure that, ultimately, any resident in that building can enjoy the FTTH services offered by another operator that has installed its network. Therefore, the first operator to access the building must accommodate reasonable requests for access to its network elements and equipment (terminal boxes, fiber optic cables, junction boxes, etc.) located inside or near the building, which facilitate the sharing of the final segment of the optical access to the subscriber's home.
Source: CNMC Blog
