Episode 1: the Market Intelligence Committee

Stefano Fogli and Icíar Martínez Núñez, respectively Chair and Vice-Chair of the Market Intelligence Committee of the FTTH Council Europe, address some of the most common questions we receive on the work of this very dynamic working group:

1. What are the main activities of the Market intelligence Committee?
2. Who participates in the committee and how is the work organised?
3. What is the workplan of the committee for 2023?
4. What do you value the most from your work at the FTTH Council Europe?

Read the full interview below to get the anwers to these questions.

What are the main activities of the Market Intelligence Committee?

The purpose of the Market Intelligence Committee is to analyze the European market with regards to full-fibre deployment, in order to understand the status and the future evolution for every European country. We try to detect and share with both other Members of the FTTH Council Europe and the general public valuable market drivers, best practices and lessons learned from the data we gather.

We summarize the above analysis within our flagship report, the “FTTH/B Market Panorama”, which we publish since 2012. This report is built from the ground-up every year in cooperation with a partner analyst, using various official sources and the fundamental input coming from many Members active in all European countries.

In the last few years, the Committee has broaden its scope by producing two more reports: the FTTH Market Forecasts 2022-2027 and an overview of fibre deployments in rural areas. 

More and more often, we collaborate with other committees of the Council, as we see various overlaps in the topics we cover. In fact, we have been already involved in many other studies such as the Response to the public consultation on the draft BEREC Report on a consistent approach to migration and copper switch-off, a study on Best Practices in Fibre and advertising and on the Socio Economic Impact of FTTH. 

Who participates in the committee and how is the work organised?

The Market Intelligence Committee can count on almost 80 members, from 50 member companies.

We have a monthly call to review the workplan and to catch up on the ongoing activities. During the General Assemblies of the FTTH Council Europe, we usually have a wider exposure to the entire membership, and we take the opportunity of such gatherings to present and discuss our future plans. As a committee, we pursue our work in coordination with the Board of Directors of the association, thanks to a specific liaison contact.

As the annual FTTH Conference approaches, our workload consequently increases, and we strengthen the collaboration with our partner analyst to get our Market Panorama report ready to be officially presented during the event. In addition to this, every year we organize a workshop focused on the country where the conference takes place. Next year's FTTH Conference will happen in Madrid, and we are working hard to prepare a good session for all the delegates coming to Madrid!

What is the workplan of the committee for 2023?

As already mentioned, the key activities of the committee are the main reports we produce on an annual basis:  the FTTH/B Market Panorama, the FTTH Market Forecasts and the FTTH/B in Rural Areas report.

We are working closely with our analyst partner to strengthen the market data and to introduce some additional elements to our reports, such as new insights covering the technology used in fibre deployment. Also, we aim at todelivering extra value from the historical data we have at our disposal, offering a vertical view per each country, which highlights the path towards FTTH/B.

Personally, what do you value the most from your work at the FTTH Council Europe?

Stefano: what I value the most is being able to see from a very privileged angle the progress that Europe is making towards a major goal, which has an enormous benefit to our society

Iciar: For me, the best part of working at the Market Intelligence Committee is having the possibility of sharing experiences and best practices with colleagues from other countries in Europe. You can easily find companies with similar business models to yours, and you are therefore able to understand their experience and their working methods. Ultimately, being part of a Committee gives you many networking opportunities with other Member companies.

More about Stefano Fogli

In my professional life, I have had the opportunity to work towards the development of full-fibre access market in amazing – and very different – companies. I started with Alcatel-Lucent in Italy in 2006, then I moved to the UK – first with Huawei and then I joined BT, where I have been the head of architecture for Openreach for four years. In late 2019 I moved back to Italy, to enjoy the adventure of launching a new full-fibre operator called Sky Wifi, and finally in late 2021 I joined Adtran, with the role of business development director in the EMEA region, working with the CTO office. Within this so varied experience, I have always tried to champion the latest and emerging products and ideas, while providing internal and external education to the advancement of broadband access.
 

More about Icíar Martínez Nuñez

Icíar Martínez Núñez is Markets and Product Director at Onivia. Telecommunications Engineer, specialist in Telecommunications Economics with strong connections to the world of telecommunication. Icíar has worked at Orange since her early days in landlines and internet and, during the expansion of the French operator into new brands and services, she worked in different technical and commercial roles, including Product Marketing management in the Sales Department. Currently, she is the Director of Markets and Product at Onivia, the first neutral and wholesale FTTH fibre operator in Spain.