Industry news

Governments 'need to support investment in fibre networks'

Government need to encourage the roll out of next generation fibre networks to maintain services for businesses, an industry expert has claimed.

IDC's telecommunications research manager, Rosalie Nelson, explained that it was vital that governments considered ways they could encourage investment in next generation broadband networks.

She said: "If we rely on commercial and competitive incentives to drive fibre deployment we won't get the economic outcomes we require.

"The Government has a critical role to play: it has the ability to drive infrastructure development for economic and public good at a lower cost of capital.

"However this must be carefully managed in order not to override or distort competitive market outcomes."

Ms Nelson added that European governments were already considering ways to ensure that money was invested in fibre networks.

She concluded: "In a number of European markets, the move to fibre is being driven by new types of municipal partnerships, involving local authorities, utilities and housing developers, in addition to aggressive competition."