FNA seeks EC approval for vectoring plans

Germany’s telecoms regulator, the Federal Network Agency (FNA), has presented a draft decision on the introduction of vectoring technology in the network of Telekom Deutschland (TD) to the European Commission for approval. In December last year TD submitted an application to the watchdog for permission to introduce vectoring technology, which would enable bandwidth to be doubled to up to 100Mbps by cancelling interference between lines. The company plans to invest up to EUR6 billion (USD7.9 billion) in developing broadband using fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) and vectoring in its domestic market to boost maximum VDSL download speeds from 50Mbps to 100Mbps. TD was given conditional approval to upgrade its copper network with VDSL2 technology in April this year; the FNA ruled that the operator must allow competitors to access the infrastructure, but added that it could deny access in areas where alternative networks are already available. The EC and the national regulatory authorities of other EU Member States can now submit comments on the proposal within one month of the revised draft decision. The decision will then enter into force if the Commission does not express any serious concerns.