By Stathis Vasilopoulos
Visual fibre has evolved into one of the largest investment bets of telecommunications providers, but for many households the transition to high speeds is not always as simple as it sounds. Behind advertisements, offers and ambitious targets for removal from copper, one of the biggest practical obstacles to the transition is hidden within the apartment buildings.
The technical coverage of an area or even the arrival of the optical fiber at the entrance of a building is not enough in itself to reach the connection to the house. The real difficulty occurs within the apartment building when the connection has to reach from the entrance of the building to each apartment. It is the so-called vertical wiring, namely the internal infrastructure that carries the optical fiber from the entrance point of the building to the floors and individual residences.
According to the current framework, when visual fiber has already been placed in a building, the same infrastructure can be used by another company to connect its client, without having to set up new wiring from the beginning within the apartment building.
In practice, however, that is exactly where the problem occurs. If the tenant chooses a different provider than the one who made the initial installation, the existing infrastructure cannot always be used. Not because this is not technically possible, but because there is no trade agreement between the two sides.
In this case, the new company cannot or does not choose to step on the installation that already exists and asks to pass its own wiring. Thus, instead of being served by a common internal infrastructure, a new turnover can be opened within the same building with double cable routes, additional boxes and interventions in the common areas. An upgrade that should simplify access to faster internet can eventually turn into a source of inconvenience for tenants and owners. In fact, the installation of double facilities is a choice absurd and uneconomic. In addition to wasting resources it also causes aesthetic degradation of the communal spaces of the apartment buildings by installing multiple cable, boxes, etc.
Behind this picture there is also an intense speed battle. Providers try to prevent demand, lock new connections and reach as quickly as possible to more buildings. This pressure, however, meets the limits of daily implementation, from the availability of workshops and coordination with managers and tenants to the technical specificities of each apartment building and the time of completion of the facilities.
At market level, PPC FiberGrid's entry has added a new "player" creating new data. Using and using air infrastructure, the company develops its network at high speeds, limiting in several cases the time and complexity of the projects.
PPC's FiberGrid network already reaches 1.88 million households, of which more than 1.1 million are available for direct connection. The planned partnership with Vodafone, which has approximately 550,000 houses and businesses ready to be connected, can create a new strong pole on the market. With the current data, the new scheme could start with around 1.65 million lines readily available and a total footprint of over 2.4 million households and businesses.
This development strengthens competition in wholesale access to fibre optics, at a time when the basic aim is not only to expand networks but to transform technical coverage into real active connections.
Despite the new balances, OTE maintains a clear lead in optical fibre, with more than 625,000 active FTTH customers and network available in 2.1 million households and businesses, aiming at 2.4 million by the end of the year. PPC, although it has acquired a significant infrastructure footprint, is still in the early stages of its commercial presence in optical fibre, with around 20,000 retail customers. Nova, via United Fiber, is estimated to be able to serve over 950,000 households and businesses through a proprietary network, while Vodafone had targeted 850,000 lines by 2028. At active connections level, Nova and Vodafone do not disclose data.
