As the digitalisation trend becomes more and more visible, the fixed broadband market and the needs of users are changing, and the EU and its Member States are following suit with their commitments. The need to switch from copper to fibre is increasingly urgent in the face of growing demands for higher download speeds, rising costs and increased capacity of broadband networks. Ambitious targets have been set at both European and national level, including network modernisation. The European Digital Decade: Digital Goals 2030 and the Digital Strategy of Slovenia 2030 aim to cover all end-users in a fixed location up to the network connection point with a gigabit network by 2030.
Maintaining an outdated copper network is becoming increasingly inadequate and technically unfeasible, especially with the parallel expansion and improvement of fibre infrastructure. Accelerating ubiquitous connectivity based on fibre (or other high-capacity broadband) is key to achieving the sustainability and digital objectives in the Republic of Slovenia. Although the market has seen progress in the deployment of these networks in recent years, the pace of migration from copper to fibre remains uneven and slow. The maintenance of copper infrastructure causes a number of problems, including high maintenance costs and inefficiencies in meeting modern needs. The European Commission and the resulting regulatory framework require the decommissioning of outdated networks and the promotion of investment in technological development. The Agency follows this through its regulation.
In order to accelerate this transition, it is essential to establish an appropriate regulatory environment to facilitate the phasing out of the copper network in the Republic of Slovenia. It is important that this transition takes place in a way that ensures market competition and the protection of end-users' rights. This requires a detailed definition of procedures, conditions and a predictable environment with appropriate regulatory measures. Accordingly, the Agency has prepared a Strategy of Regulatory Measures to Accelerate the Phasing-Out of the Copper Network and published it on its website, setting out concrete actions that will lead to the phasing-out of the copper network with the involvement of all relevant stakeholders.
Phasing out the network in the territory of the Slovenia.