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BT prices free rein on faster broadband
Nick Goodway03.03.09
Telecoms regulator Ofcom today launched a major drive to push superfast broadband that runs at 10 times current speeds across the country by telling BT it will be freed from price controls.
Superfast broadband can be delivered in a number of ways but the key to coverage across the country will be BT's upgrading its network from copper wires to fibre-optic. That will cost £1.5 billion over the next three years.
Ofcom said it wants to give BT the freedom to price wholesale superfast broadband products without regulatory intervention. Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards said: “Our message today is clear: there are no regulatory barriers in the way of investment in super-fast broadband.
“We want to promote investment but also ensure that there is fair and effective competition for the future.”
BT chief executive Ian Livingston welcomed the decision, saying it gave the company the green light to push ahead with plans to deliver superfast broadband of up to 100 megabytes per second to 40% of UK homes by 2012.
Reader views (6)
Garry, you are misinformed. It's the quality and length of the wire between you and the exchange that determines your achievable broadband speed. The exchange equipment merely caps the maximum possible on a good and short wire (often at 8Mbps). Of course, it is BT that is responsible for your wire being a knackered left-over from the 1970s or earlier, even if you buy your internet service from someone else (who buys it wholesale from BT, except for Virgin who have their own monopoly on cable TV cables).
BT is a monopoly that's allowed its infrastructure to decay while lining its shareholders' pockets, which is now set to reap another bonanza out of doing what it should have done by way of routine maintenance over the last couple of decades. Just like the Tube. And the Water. And the Electricity. And the Gas. And the Railways. And London's Airports. Anyone I've left out? Well, they'll have done it too!
- Nigel, London
I think the only faster connection for this country is if someone gets rid of our prime minister.
- Georgie, Islington, London
Well, with BT's Phorm seemingly breaking most of the wire tapping laws in the land (but curiously allowed by the government because it might harvest information they want) I doubt anyone with any concerns over privacy would touch them with a bargepole, regardless of how fast their connection is.
- Bob, Cheam
I'm afraid this is what economists call "regulatory capture".
- Bloke, London
So BT will spend millions, assuming they can get the finance, on new infrastructure. It will take them ten years for the new kit to come on stream by which time it will be obsolete. At the same time BT will charge exorbitant prices for this new service and make the same has of it as they did when they supplied ISDN circuits and broadband originally.
- Adam, Harrow, UK
Your kidding right? BT can't even get my broardbad to run at 1 meg and I live in Earlsfield, my friend who is furhter away from the exchange and is with virgin gets 3 meg. According to BT's own people, it is because Virgin instal better equipment in the BT exchange than they do! Oh and when you complain they do nothing, another 4 weeks and I can take them to Ofcom.
- Garry, London
