BT on Tuesday insisted that the U.K.’s business broadband market is sufficiently competitive and warned that forcing it to provide rivals with access to its passive infrastructure would be a bad move on regulator Ofcom’s part.
"We believe that forcing [BT] Openreach to offer access to its ducts or dark fibre would increase costs and add extra complexity to the way U.K. businesses are served," said a BT spokesman, in an email to Total Telecom.
"The U.K. has a vibrant wholesale business connectivity market, with strong competition and innovation amongst a large number of providers," he insisted.
Under the current system, telcos that want to serve businesses rely on BT Openreach to connect customers and maintain the physical network infrastructure. However, these telcos have for years been lobbying Ofcom for access to the U.K. incumbent’s ducts, poles and dark fibre, which would make it easier and cheaper for them to provision and manage their own network equipment, enabling them to compete more effectively with the big guns like BT, Virgin and Hull-based KCom in the business broadband market.
BT’s comments came in confirmation of a Financial Times report on Tuesday, that said BT, Virgin Media, and Kcom have penned a joint letter to Ofcom warning that forcing them to open up their passive infrastructure would jeopardise future network investment and increase the risk of network outages.
In the letter, the telcos argue that "allowing multiple operators to tamper with the physical network will cause service faults for customers." They also argue that regulatory changes could lea d to higher prices and create uncertainty, "disincentivising future infrastructure investments."
Another criticism that alternative operators have aimed at Openreach is that it has a poor record when it comes to responding to requests to connect new lines and repair faults.
"Regarding service, Openreach is voluntarily publishing our service performance," BT’s spokesman said, which "reflects our commitment to improving service."
According to the FT’s report, Ofcom plans to launch a consultation on the U.K.’s business broadband market "in the coming months."
