Market Intelligence Committee

Domenico Dichiarante and Icíar Martínez Núñez, respectively Chair and Vice-Chair of the Market Intelligence Committee of the FTTH Council Europe, offer valuable insights into the activities of the committee and its significant contributions to advancing FTTH adoption across Europe. Under their leadership, the MIC has undertaken critical initiatives to address challenges in the fiber broadband industry, ensuring the committee remains a driving force for innovation and strategic action:

A few months ago, the Market Intelligence Committee published the FTTH Market Panorama report by Country. What specific actions is the committee taking to address the slow adoption rates highlighted in the report?
Beyond publishing the annual market reports, what are the key activities of the Market Intelligence Committee? Additionally, how can members of the FTTH Council Europe benefit from participating in the committee's initiatives?
During the recent FTTH Congress Balkans, you presented the latest market figures for FTTH rollout and adoption for the South-Eastern European countries, now part of the FTTH/B Market Panorama report. Where does the region stand in the road to full-fibre, compared to other European countries?
What do you value the most from your work at the FTTH Council Europe?

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

A few months ago, the Market Intelligence Committee published the FTTH Market Panorama report by Country. What specific actions is the committee taking to address the slow adoption rates highlighted in the report?

The Market Intelligence Committee's new report on the FTTH Market Panorama, with a renewed layout, offers a clear and immediate representation of data, facilitating comparisons between countries, particularly on coverage and adoption. To address low adoption rates, the Market Intelligence Committee identifies the best-performing countries to analyze their success factors. By understanding the policies, strategies, and initiatives that have proven effective in these markets, the committee can extract actionable insights. This analysis will lead to the creation of a vademecum—a practical guide designed to assist countries with lower adoption rates. This resource will be developed with active input from Market Intelligence Committee members and structured through a standardized comparison grid, ensuring consistency and relevance. Additionally, the vademecum will serve as a critical tool for addressing challenges related to the copper switch-off, offering strategic recommendations and a roadmap for a smooth transition.

The Market Intelligence Committee also plans to monitor customer awareness of FTTH technology and its benefits in key markets. This will help identify gaps in understanding and support the design of targeted information campaigns in collaboration with association members. Through these combined efforts, the Market Intelligence Committee aims to drive adoption and foster a deeper appreciation of FTTH’s transformative potential.

Beyond publishing the annual market reports, what are the key activities of the Market Intelligence Committee? Additionally, how can members of the FTTH Council Europe benefit from participating in the committee's initiatives?

Beyond annual reports, the Market Intelligence Committee constantly analyses the FTTH market, both in terms of coverage and adoption, to understand 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 all the market stakeholder valuable market drivers, best practices and lessons learned from the data we gather.

One of the Market Intelligence Committee’s primary goals is to provide stakeholders with accurate, user-friendly reports that serve as decision-making tools. These analyses not only benefit the Association but also assist other committees in designing guidelines and implementing concrete actions to address market challenges. The Market Intelligence Committee’s data-driven approach ensures that its findings are practical, actionable, and impactful.

Market Intelligence Committee members benefit from a valuable exchange of know-how, technical expertise, and international experience, gaining new ideas and insights for their companies and countries.

Furthermore, the Market Intelligence Committee creates opportunities for professional development and high-level networking, enabling participants to enhance their influence within the FTTH ecosystem.

In the picture on the right, action from the Market Panorama panel at the FTTH Conference 2024, in Berlin.

During the recent FTTH Congress Balkans, you presented the latest market figures for FTTH rollout and adoption for the South-Eastern European countries, now part of the FTTH/B Market Panorama report. Where does the region stand in the road to full-fibre, compared to other European countries? 

The Balkan region shows strong interest in fiber optic development, as demonstrated by the successful FTTH congress in the Balkans. The adoption rate in some countries exceeds the European average, but the situation is heterogeneous. Albania, with 60% coverage and a take-up close to 90%, and Montenegro, with coverage and adoption above 70%, stand out positively. Bosnia-Herzegovina, on the other hand, is lagging with less than 10% coverage, although the take-up in covered areas is high. Kosovo is positioned midway, with 50% coverage and 41% take-up. Despite these disparities, the overall outlook for the region is positive. The Balkan market is characterized by dynamism and growth potential, making it a promising area for investment and development. By addressing barriers to adoption and fostering regional cooperation, the path to full-fiber connectivity can be accelerated.

In the picture on the left, action from the Opening panel at the FTTH Congress 2024, in Dubrovnik.

What do you value the most from your work at the FTTH Council Europe?

The main value of participating in the FTTH Council Europe lies in the opportunity to interact with colleagues from different countries, with roles and experience in various sectors of the industry. This stimulating environment fosters the sharing of best practices and the development of new ideas, both for extending network coverage and accelerating take-up.

Participating in the FTTH Council Europe offers a uniquely enriching experience. The opportunity to collaborate with colleagues from diverse countries and sectors within the telecommunications industry is invaluable. This dynamic environment encourages the sharing of best practices, innovative solutions, and forward-thinking strategies, all aimed at driving network expansion and increasing adoption rates.

The collective mission to support members and raise awareness among stakeholders about the importance of FTTH creates a shared sense of purpose. By working together, we contribute to the broader goal of accelerating Europe’s transition to the Gigabit Society. This is achieved through the widespread deployment of FTTH networks, which serve as the backbone for digital transformation and innovation across the continent.

We find great satisfaction in contributing to initiatives that make a tangible impact on the industry and society. Whether it’s through sharing insights, shaping policy discussions, or fostering collaboration, my work with the FTTH Council Europe provides both professional growth and the opportunity to help position Europe as a global leader in digital connectivity. The chance to be part of this journey and to witness the transformative power of FTTH firsthand is what I value the most.

In the picture on the right, action from the Market Panorama panel at the FTTH Conference 2024, in Berlin.

More about Domenico Dichiarante

Marketing Manager with 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry (fixed and mobile). Since 2016, Head of Operational Marketing at Open Fiber, where I played a key role in the company's launch, developing the product portfolio, defining the fiber roll-out strategy, designing the customer experience, and securing key partnerships with major operators. From 2008 to 2016, as Marketing Products and Process Manager at WindTre (Italy's second-largest telecom operator), I managed multiple products and spearheaded the launch of FTTH commercialization in Italy. Prior to that, I was a strategic consultant at Accenture, supporting telecom companies in various transformation projects.

More about Icíar Martínez Núñez

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.

Use of a ground water heat pump (GWHP) to cool FTTx street cabinets

May 9, 2022

Company type: | Telecom Network Operator |

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Member company: Eurofiber
Country or geographical scope: Global
Period: 2015-
Segment of the value chain concerned: Internet service provider
Product/service category involved: Street Cabinets

Abstract:
ISP’s can achieve significant reductions in their energy usage, and thereby reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, by switching to GWHPs to cool their street cabinets, rather then using conventional air conditioning. In addition GWHPs require less maintenance reducing the amount of truck rolls needed for service.

Context

As a sector we are well aware that every party has a responsibility to reduce their carbon footprint. Digital services are often a way to reduce the need for travel or transport of physical goods. However digitization itself is not currently free of its own impact on the environment. Therefor as a sector we must act to reduce our own footprint as well. We cannot however do this alone and we believe that by sharing best practices we can help and inspire others to go beyond their current efforts, ultimately to the benefit of all society.

Solutions

Active equipment used by the broadband service can require cooling to ensure uninterrupted service. Traditionally this has been done by using conventional air conditioning. This is an effective method of cooling, however it requires addition power, and thus carbon emissions. An alternative that has been used by Eurofiber for its street cabinets is to cool them by using a ground water heat pump (GWHP) instead. What a GWHP does is to keep the air in the street cabinet stable by pumping up ground water from a well deep in the earth. The temperatures there are relatively stable at around 15 °Celsius year round. By pumping this water through a heat exchanger the GWHP can cool during the summer and provide heat during the winter, which also eliminates the need for a separate heater. A GWHP has a very low energy consumption and requires little maintenance, which reduces their footprint further by reducing the amount of truck rolls.

Results

Eurofiber has been able to use GWHP systems to cool some of their street cabinets. Given the need to dig fairly deep to reach ground water of the correct temperature this is not always feasible. Where it is possible it works very well though, energy consumption at peak is only 3% of what a conventional air conditioned street cabinet would use and maintenance costs are much lower, making it an ideal solution.

Conclusions

As enablers of digitization the broadband sector is already doing much to help other reduce their footprint. We must however as a sector do more and also look at our own footprint. An important step in this is the transition to full fiber networks. However even fiber networks use active equipment that requires cooling. The example of using ground water heat pumps is an example of how we can reduce our own carbon footprint by both reducing our energy usage and reducing the need for maintenance.

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