UK telecoms regulator Ofcom expects recent wholesale price reductions for superfast broadband services to lead to lower costs for consumers.
The regulator has revised wholesale pricing for high-speed services supplied by national broadband network operator Openreach. Ofcom is not imposing caps now on newer technologies from BT, such as G.Fast, because it believes existing price controls elsewhere will be sufficient to preserve competition and protect consumers from excessive charges.
Jonathan Oxley, Ofcom’s Competition Group Director, said: “Our plans are designed to encourage long-term investment in future ultrafast, full-fibre networks, while promoting competition and protecting consumers from high prices.”
“People need reliable phone and broadband services more than ever. We’re making sure the market is delivering the best possible services for homes and businesses across the UK.”
Under the new arrangements, the wholesale charge for Openreach’s 40/10 Mbit/s broadband package will fall from £88.80 per year to £52.77 for 2020/21. Ofcom expects that competition will drive many providers to pass a substantial share of these savings on to end users.
Telecom providers are entitled to compensation if notified within eight days
In addition to adjusting wholesale prices, Ofcom is introducing stricter requirements for Openreach’s fault repairs and new line installations.
Ofcom aims to reduce the lead time for installation appointments to ten working days by 2020 and to ensure appointment availability reaches 90 percent over the review period.
Although late Openreach installations affect only around five to seven percent of total orders, Ofcom notes this still represents a significant number of customers given the high volume of WLR, MPF and GEA-FTTC installation orders placed by telecoms providers. Openreach has committed to cutting missed appointments for both installations and repairs by 50 percent.
When connections fail due to Openreach faults, telecom providers can claim compensation provided they notify the operator within eight days. Ofcom observes that these faults have remained infrequent and therefore will not be introducing additional regulatory performance standards in this area.
The full requirements for Openreach on fault repair and new line installation are published by Ofcom as part of its Wholesale Local Access Market Review for the period April 2018 to March 2021. The consultation closes on 9 June 2017, and Ofcom expects to announce its final decisions in early 2018, with new rules taking effect on 1 April 2018.
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