There have been plenty of times in the past where I’d have happily fired Ofcom. But it seems BT has cleverly put a gun to the regulator’s head with the announcement of its planned fibre network.
The company says it’s prepared to spend £1.5 billion to bring high-speed broadband to ten million homes by 2012, but that depends on “ “a supportive and enduring regulatory environment”. In other words, give us what we want or we’re taking our football home.
That puts Ofcom in a no-win situation: if the regulator puts it foot down, it will be accused of stalling Britain’s broadband network; if it gives BT carte blanche, the former monopoly’s rivals will be crying foul.
BT has already demanded access to Virgin’s cable network in an exclusive briefing with PC Pro. What else will it demand in its negotiations with Ofcom? Oh, to be a fly on the wall in those meetings…
Tags: broadband, BT, fibre, Ofcom
Permalink
July 15th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
BT Should be applauded for the commitment they are making. In the current market conditions, an investment of £1.5BN on top of the £10BN they are spending on 21CN is no small figure. Of course they should be allowed to make a return on their investment. Why should they have to take all the risk and then their competitors take the benefit without any of the outlay? Good on you BT!
July 16th, 2008 at 5:44 am
I’d agreewith Phil - IF BT were able to demonstrate any ability to deliver.
As it is the company is in such an appalling condition that it should simply be shut down, or taken into public ownership.
I could list here all the problems I’ve had with BT, but I won’t waste the space.