Eurobites: French fiber rollout slows in Q3Eurobites: French fiber rollout slows in Q3

The pace of fiber rollout in France continued to slow in the third quarter, according to the latest update from Arcep, the country's communications regulator. During the quarter, 605,000 additional premises were passed for fiber – 27% fewer than in Q3 2023. As of September 30, 2024, 39.9 million premises in metropolitan France were passed for fiber, with 4.6 million still needing to be covered. As for actual subscriptions, eight out of ten of them were classed as "superfast" plans as of September 30, with 73% of them recorded as FTTH subscriptions. Subscriptions to fiber broadband plans grew by 675,000 in Q3 2024, compared to a 780,000 increase in Q3 2023.

Across the Channel, regulator Ofcom's latest pricing trends report reveals that average UK prices for fixed broadband and landline bundles have generally fallen in real terms between 2023 and 2024, with the fastest packages seeing the biggest drop. List prices for dual-play "ultrafast" (300 Mbit/s or more) and landline packages fell by 9% in real terms, while promotional prices fell by 8%. On the "superfast" (30-229 Mbit/s) side, list and promotional prices also fell, by 7% and 3% respectively. The report also found that ultrafast broadband promotional deals are often cheaper from smaller providers, with the independents' pricing starting at £26 (US$33) per month, compared to the at least £39 ($49) per month demanded for the cheapest similar service by a larger provider.

It's about time we heard from another European telecom CEO having a whinge about the regulatory environment, so here's Telecom Italia boss Pietro Labriola deploying a caffeine-based analogy at the Financial Times' Tech Leadership Forum yesterday (Thursday) to sum up European telecom's predicament: "In Italy, average spending on mobile connectivity is equivalent to four coffees per month. We need rules that allow us to compete on equal terms in digital and make profits, otherwise the telecoms will no longer have the necessary resources to make the investments they need and this will result in a worse service for consumers. The only possible way forward is through less regulation and allowing market consolidation, because scale is important. Only in this way could we close the gap with those who are ahead of us." (See Eurobites: ETNO, GSMA lean on EU (again).)

Rome's Roma Termini rail station is going full steam ahead on 5G, courtesy of towerco Inwit, which has deployed its distributed antenna system there. Customers of TIM, Vodafone (already active), and Iliad (to be activated by the end of December) will be able to take advantage of the updated technologies available on their devices, supporting both 4G and 5G, whilst they sip their overpriced coffees.

Italy's Serie A soccer league has struck a deal with Meta to help it tackle match-streaming piracy. As Reuters reports (paywall applies), Serie A will gain access to some Meta tools for monitoring, reporting and removing any matches illegally streamed on Facebook and Instagram. TV rights rather than matchday receipts make up the bulk of the revenue for the top teams in Italian soccer, such as Inter and Juventus, the report adds.