Matthew Howett, an analyst with Assembly, argued that Openreach and its rivals need to feel confident that the proposed rules won’t shift dramatically to have confidence in making long term investments.
“It’s less about what the price is, but rather whether Openreach feels the rules of the game have changed, and whether they, and other infrastructure investors, can make similar investment commitments today knowing that the same regime will apply in the future,” he said.
Digital analysts welcomed the development but said "the devil would be in the detail".
"Getting access to suitable sites, particularly in rural areas, has been a real challenge for mobile operators, so any initiative aimed at improving this will be welcomed by the industry," said Matthew Howett, principal analyst at research firm Assembly.
"What's not clear, though, is what the commercial relationship looks like. There have been many stories of rural land owners effectively holding operators to ransom for access to some sites, which has slowed down rollout and added considerably to the cost."
However, there is genuine concern in the sector over to what extent the promises will be fulfilled. TalkTalk, for example, has only signed an initial agreement with its potential financial backer, which was revealed alongside a £200m fundraising, a profit warning and a dividend cut.
Matthew Howett, founder of research company Assembly, believes that the TalkTalk plans will be the most difficult to deliver on because of “a more complicated funding model and a shaky balance sheet that has angered investors”.
“Making the financial commitment is relatively easy. The real hard work starts with the digging,” said Mr Howett.
Matthew Howett, principal analyst at Assembly said: "After years of debate about Britain being on a 'low-fibre diet', in a relatively short period of time we've seen commitments from investors including Openreach, Vodafone, CityFibre and TalkTalk to up the amount of fibre in the network.
"While this announcement is not a new investment, it goes to show the potential full-fibre technology has and what is possible once the fibre has been laid. Of course the challenge now is to convince consumers of the need for these vastly higher speeds today and crucially to get them to part with the cash and pay a higher monthly bill."
One industry watcher said the regulator would be mindful that it had lost a separate appeal involving BT last month, external.
"Three have nothing to lose by going for the challenge, which would delay the auction," commented Matthew Howett from the consultancy Assembly Research.
"But I don't think that will delay 5G services for consumers. 5G as a standard hasn't even been defined yet. Yes, there's a lot of hype, but it's primarily from the handset-makers rather than the operator community. Realistically, credible 5G services won't be ready until about 2021."
Matthew Howett, principal analyst at research firm Assembly said: "While we often get tied up in knots over whether it should be fibre to the street cabinet or fibre all the way to the home, one thing's for certain and that's that this isn't going to make it into the mix of technologies companies like Openreach or Virgin Media will be using."
Ofcom has moved instead to introduce temporary regulations in business markets where it believes BT has significant market power. That includes the original plan to introduce charge controls on Openreach, BT’s engineering arm, which the group has resisted.
The regulator has also forged ahead with a plan to force Openreach to introduce ‘dark fibre’ products that allow wholesale customers like Sky and TalkTalk to take control of unlit fibre lines. Ofcom remains determined to introduce dark fibre into the market despite the court setback and Openreach’s opposition.
Matthew Howett, an analyst with Assembly, said that the situation has got “a bit messy” with some elements of the temporary regulation overlapping with consultations the regulator has already kicked off.
The ruling is the latest in a series of showdowns between BT and Ofcom. They faced off in court this year over business connectivity measures and will do so off again in December over the impending 5G spectrum auction rules.
Matthew Howett, founder and principal analyst with research company Assembly, said the case shows the UK government is not acting clearly when it comes to mobile network expansion. The higher fees for mobile phone providers, which in effect reduce their profits and ability to invest in their networks, came at a time when the government was trying to improve coverage. Indeed, the Budget included a £160m pledge by the government to invest in boosting the UK’s prospects in 5G network development.
“A couple of years ago Germany committed money that had been earned during a recent spectrum auction to be poured back into rural broadband initiatives. It’s about time the UK government started thinking in a similarly joined-up way,” he added.
The 2009 launch was the “envy of the world”, says Matthew Howett, principal analyst at research company Assembly, with other countries taking their own incumbent players to task for not matching the ambition of the Australians.
“While the type of navel-gazing we’ve seen in Australia recently usually uncovers some important lessons, the truth is infrastructure deployments at scale have always been complicated, expensive and rarely without setback. If broadband could be rolled out using reports, inquiries and investigations, the UK would probably have the fastest broadband in the world by now,” says Matt Howett, principal analyst with Assembly.
