Broadband News

BT to open up fibre optic broadband network to rivals

Tuesday, 09 February 2010

By Garnet Roach

BT Broadband (www.BT.com) has announced plans to open up its fibre broadband ducts to rival internet providers.

In a similar way that local loop unbundled (LLU) opened up the market to providers such as TalkTalk Broadband (www.TalkTalk.co.uk) and Sky Broadband (www.Sky.com), the move would allow other ISPs to offer their own fibre optic broadband packages, without having to waste money digging up the roads again.

Ian Livingston, BT CEO, said: “We told Ofcom last year we're willing to provide open access to our ducts and poles and we are working with them on how to achieve it. Other companies already have access to our exchanges so we're relaxed about providing them with another form of access as well.

“Although it's unlikely to be the silver bullet to get fibre to every home, open access to all ducts, not just ours, might help BT and others extend coverage and so we would like to see a future government support such a move.”

Tom Williams, head of operations at BE Broadband (www.BeThere.co.uk), said: “The news that BT are preparing to open up so that other broadband providers can run their own high-speed broadband networks through their infrastructure will help us and other businesses better assess the case for fibre deployment. Although we will wait until BT confirms this move before revealing any of our own plans, one thing for certain is that the UK lags behind most of Europe now in terms of rolling out fibre broadband, which can’t persist for longer. "

Both the Labour government and the Conservatives claim that their broadband Britain plans will see a superfast broadband network of fibre cables cover 90% of the UK by 2017, through a combination of private investment, public sector spending and tweaks in the regulatory environment - either through the controversial 50p landline tax or a levy on the BBC licence fee.

BT recently launched its 40Mb broadband fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) packages, BT Infinity, which start at less than £20 a month for an up to 40Mb connection and a 20GB monthly allowance, or £24.99 a month for “unlimited broadband” downloads, subject to a fair usage policy.

FTTC runs fibre optic cables to telephone street cabinets, using copper wires to deliver broadband from the cabinet to the home.

Michael Phillips, product director at Broadbandchoices.co.uk, said: “Although there are a number of smaller fibre projects around the UK - such as the i3 Group networks, offering faster fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband, in Bournemouth and Dundee - the only suppliers offering next-generation access on a national level are BT and Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com).

“Opening up the BT ducts will inject more competition into the fibre optic broadband market, allowing BT rivals to offer a diverse range of packages,” he concluded.

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