Significant regulatory developments have recently taken place across Europe, particularly in the areas of fixed wholesale regulation and spectrum policy.

Here are the 10 latest national developments in European telecoms regulation:

Fixed wholesale regulation

1)  The Romanian telecoms regulator proposes to designate the non-incumbent operator Digi Romania as having significant market power in the wholesale local access market in 6,290 municipalities, covering 28% of the population mainly in remote areas.

2)  In Italy, the regulator consults on extending symmetric access obligations to the distribution segment of FTTH networks, between the street cabinet and end-user premises.

3)  The UK regulator consults on its latest (2026-31) review of wholesale fixed telecoms markets. Its proposals closely mirror the current approach to maintain the regulatory stability seen as essential due to the long-term nature of operators’ network investments.

4)  In Estonia, the regulator introduced access obligations in the newly defined national physical infrastructure access market, lifted all ex ante wholesale broadband regulation on copper networks, and deregulated fibre access in an area covering less than 1% of the national territory but accounting for one third of the population.

5)  The Czech telecoms regulator revised its analysis of the wholesale local access market, expanding the number of regulated geographic areas in response to recent acquisitions of smaller operators by CETIN, the operator with significant market power.

6)  The German regulator ruled that an operator may request access to individual in-building fibre lines to connect specific apartments but does not have the right to seek framework agreements covering the entire in-building fibre network.

Spectrum policy

7)  Germany intends to extend by five years mobile spectrum licences in the 800 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 2.6 GHz bands, subject to the imposition of strict coverage and spectrum-sharing obligations.

8)  The Polish regulator successfully concluded a spectrum auction for 2x30 MHz in the 700 MHz band and 2x5 MHz in the 800 MHz band, awarding national licences valid until 2040 to all four established mobile network operators.

9)  The Slovak telecoms regulator is preparing a multiband spectrum auction to award 510 MHz of spectrum across the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1500 MHz, 2.1 GHz, and 2.6 GHz bands, with licences set to remain valid until the end of 2048.

10)  In the UK, the regulator is consulting on the use of mobile spectrum bands to support direct-to-device satellite services, aiming to achieve 100% outdoor coverage across the national landmass.

Cullen International’s European Telecoms Updates highlight recent policy developments affecting the regulation of radio spectrum, wholesale networks and consumer protection in certain markets in the region.

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