Telecoms Archives - Page 2 of 2

The UK telecoms regulatory will publish the outcome of their ‘Strategic Review of Digital Communications‘ on Thursday and unsurprisingly there have been some leaks, which appear to confirm our expectation that Ofcom will NOT move to split BT from control of its national phone and broadband network (Openreach). Instead Ofcom is expected to impose greater separation of Openreach from BT, which could involve giving rival ISPs more access to Openreach’s national network of cables and telephone exchanges (a highly likely outcome). Potentially Ofcom may also require BT’s network access division to have its own separate board, which the operator won’t be very happy about. However it’s understood that the regulator will opt to keep the option of full separation on the table, which could be used as a bargaining chip should BT move to aggressively oppose their new measures. A BT source told The Telegraph that this may yet result in separation: “It could get to the point of separation by the back door” (i.e. if the price of Ofcom’s new regulation feels too high to stomach). Naturally all of this is to be accompanied by a variety of other changes to market regulation, which will go well beyond the question of Openreach’s separation. We’ll find out more on Thursday.

BT Fighting Against Separation from OpenReach

By Admin|News|

Instead of going on a charm offensive BT’s CEO, Gavin Patterson, appears to have taken a more confrontational approach by privately writing to every (650) elected UK Member of Parliament and highlighting how he felt that many of their recent claims against the operator were “inaccurate and misleading“. The reaction, which according to The Telegraph also delivers a point-by-point rebuttal of the recent “Broadbad Report” that was signed by 121 cross-party MPs, comes at a time when Ofcom are said to be “seriously” considering (here) the option of splitting BT from control of their national broadband and phone network (Openreach). BT’s CEO, Gavin Patterson, said: “Separation would be costly and divert time and funding away from investment in UK infrastructure, at a time when the UK is at a crucial stage of its development as a world-leading digital nation. Surely those impatient to see yet more homes and businesses get better broadband would rather that the money, time and effort went into the next stages of Superfast broadband, and then into Ultrafast?” In fairness the “Broadbad” report had plenty of big flaws, such as using out of date information for broadband coverage and failing to do a deeper analysis of its own claims, which is disappointing because it arguably missed a golden opportunity to highlight some very real failings and therefore risked damaging the credibility of its own message. Never the less the report did succeed in chiming in with all those politicians and people who, in a world where broadband is increasingly being seen as a vital utility service, simply expect an awful lot better from BT and its national service / network delivery business. Patterson’s letter also pointed to praise of its network from around the world and made specific mention of Australia, which recently highlighted Openreach as [...]

BT Openreach Confirm UK LLU and Line Rental Price Changes for 2016

By Admin|General|

BTOpenreach, which maintains and manages access to BT’s national UK telecoms network, has announced a series of line rental, local loop unbundling (LLU), electricity and engineering related price changes that will be introduced from 1st April 2016. Thankfully most of the adjustments are reductions. The tweaks will impact Internet and phone providers that buy their services directly from Openreach, which predominantly reflects the charge controls / regulation (Fixed Access Market Review) introduced by Ofcom. The prices are +vat based and don’t include any extras costs or services that ISPs may need to add on top before being sold as part of a consumer product. Broadly speaking most of the tweaks reflect small to modest sized reductions. For example, BT’s WLR Basic Line Rental service will go from costing £89.50 per annum to £86.72 (-3.1%), although the cost of a fully unbundled (MPF) line will remain largely unchanged at £87.65 per annum. A full list of the changes can be found online, although it will only make sense to those familiar with the jargon.

BT Set to Avoid Openreach Split as Ofcom Opts for the Middle Ground

BT Fighting Against Separation from OpenReach

BT Openreach Confirm UK LLU and Line Rental Price Changes for 2016

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