Ofcom has today published its Wholesale Fixed Telecoms Market Review which sets out the regulatory framework from 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2026. Crucially the ‘fair bet’ fibre builders were asking for is in there.
Matthew Howett, Founder of Assembly comments:
"While the market review only covers the next 5 years, the "expectation not to introduce cost-based prices for fibre services for at least the next ten years" will be a huge boost for Openreach and the other fibre builders. It’s quite something for Ofcom to have gone from regulating for a 3 year period, to offering this level of certainty.
"Access seekers may be less thrilled. While they will be sympathetic to Ofcom needing to do something about the UK’s languishing full fibre position, they might feel Ofcom has gone too far in deregulating Openreach. But with the Government having scaled back on its full fibre target, hesitant to address business rates for fibre, and only drip feeding public funding for the final third, the pressure was on Ofcom to put in place the enablers. It’s fair to say they've stepped up.
"Spread across 7 volumes and 26 annexes, it’s never been truer that the devil is in the detail, but the mood music from Ofcom suggests they have moved to give as much certainty as they could to those hanging future investment decisions on their words. While BT would’ve liked 20 years of no regulated prices for faster fibre products, they will take the certainty of 10 and the broad commitment to continue to honor that fair bet principle if there is a need to move to cost-based regulation in the future. They wanted the fair bet baked in, and they got it."
