Debate: Municipalities delay and make broadband deployment more expensive
If Sweden is to meet its ambitious broadband targets, many players need to invest, cooperate and compete. The actions of Swedish municipalities are crucial in this context, writes IT&Telecom's Anne-Marie Fransson in Dagens Samhälle today.
If Sweden is to meet its ambitious broadband targets and enable as many people as possible to connect to a future-proof digital infrastructure and gain access to affordable digital services, many players need to invest, cooperate and compete. Building broadband to all Swedish households is estimated to cost over SEK 50 billion and it is therefore crucial that the investments made last as long as possible.
The actions of Sweden's municipalities are crucial here: to implement the rollout in all parts of the country, municipal broadband strategies that promote effective competition are required. We are now seeing a worrying trend, where municipalities' actions are hampering the rollout of broadband, both by inhibiting the rollout and by eliminating competition.
Our member companies report case after case where constructive cooperation is rejected, administrative processes are delayed, land contracts are denied and external investments in the municipality are rejected. As a trade association, we feel obliged to act. The fact that municipalities act in violation of both the Competition Act and the Swedish Competition Authority's, PTS's and SKL's joint Principles for municipal initiatives in the broadband area can have serious consequences - both for our companies and for Sweden and its inhabitants in general. Unhealthy competition risks affecting the citizens of the municipality through more limited expansion, less freedom of choice and higher prices for broadband.
In many municipalities, cooperation between private operators and the municipality works very well. These are characterized by the fact that they promote effective competition and have municipal broadband strategies. They have the will and drive of both politicians and civil servants, they grant land agreements with reasonable terms, have the resources to process, for example, excavation permits within reasonable processing times, are sympathetic to alternative and more cost-effective installation methods and promote competition in and between different broadband infrastructures. Unfortunately, this is not a comprehensive description of municipalities.
We believe that the actions of some municipalities, and the lack of healthy competition in them, are contrary to the municipalities' mission and are unwarranted: today there is neither capital nor willingness to build the infrastructure on the part of market players. The government is also clear that the digital infrastructure should primarily be built by market players. The role of the public sector should be to build where the market lacks commercial conditions, to stimulate the market's investments, and to make them last as long as possible.
IT&Telekomföretagen is concerned about the actions described. We have therefore reported Hässleholm municipality to the Swedish Competition Authority because, by refusing land agreements and excavation permits for laying fiber in the municipality in order to protect its own fiber investment, they exclude competition from other players. We want this action to be reviewed as it is of fundamental importance and risks spreading to other municipalities.
We have also proposed that the relevant authority, such as the National Post and Telecom Agency, be given the task of ensuring the application of competition-neutral conditions between municipally owned urban networks and private operators. The task would be best started by mapping the situation in all of Sweden's municipalities.
It is estimated that this year a total of around 17,000 households have actively agreed to receive fiber from private operators but still lack delivery, as a result of municipalities refusing land agreements or not being able to process excavation permits. There is demand and citizens are willing to pay, our companies are willing to invest, but municipalities are putting obstacles in the way. No one benefits from this - neither the municipalities nor their residents.
Anne-Marie Fransson
Director of IT&Telecom within Almega
The debate article was published in Dagens Samhälle 2015-11-30