Broadband News
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BT broadband fibre sharing plans reaction: Nice ducts, but where is the detail?
11 Feb 2010 | 15.22 Europe/London
BT’s decision this week to open its fibre ducts to competitors has been given a cautious welcome by rivals.
However, the overriding concern is that there are no firm details from BT about how access will be given and under what terms. With the growing politicisation of fibre, for its ability to bring ‘next generation’ broadband access, it is unlikely that these details will be finalised and announced until after the general election.
Show us the details
Sky is typical of BT’s major rivals, welcoming the notion of ducts become available to third parties, so they can roll out their own fibre networks with minimum disruption and lower cost. The question remains, though, what are the details.
A spokesperson for Sky told SamKnows.com.
“While we have no plans for wide-scale fibre services at present, we support the principle of open infrastructure, just as our satellite platform has been open since 1998. Access to ducts, alongside the provision of attractive wholesale products, is one of the steps which will help to encourage competition and innovation. It will be necessary to see the detail of BT’s proposals before assessing their impact.”
Talking up fibre?
Nevertheless TalkTalk would appear to consider the move from BT as an olive branch, following its recent vocal criticism of suggested wholesale fibre products and prices. The move could well pave the way for TalkTalk to not rely solely on BT’s wholesale product and instead invest in its own network, according to a TalkTalk spokesperson.
“We're at the forefront of the debate about how best to provide super fast broadband to our customers. We're talking to BT and Ofcom and are part of the current BT Openreach fibre trial. We're considering a range of options including our own fibre trial.”
Faster connections on the way
Be Broadband perhaps managed to provide the most optimistic and cautious response to BT’s move. While it welcomed the initiative, it is waiting on BT to formally confirm it is to open it fibre ducts before outlining how this will enable it to provide faster broadband access for its customers.
Tom Williams, Head of Operations at BE Broadband, commented:
“The news that BT is 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.
“Consumers will and have started to demand more and more speed for the broadband and I believe we are already seeing more consideration in buying behaviour in the broadband market. People are looking for non-traffic shaped connections that give them unfettered access to their digital lives, which BE currently gives them, but only the opening up of BT’s infrastructure and the introduction fibre to the majority of the UK will allows this to happen.”
In an analysts’ call this morning BT was reported to have revealed that fibre has become a heavily politicised technology and so it could not yet clearly elaborate on its plans, other than to confirm it is still in talks with the Government and Ofcom.
With an election due in May, and possibly due in April, it is highly unlikely there will be any detail on BT’s plans for several months to come.
However, the overriding concern is that there are no firm details from BT about how access will be given and under what terms. With the growing politicisation of fibre, for its ability to bring ‘next generation’ broadband access, it is unlikely that these details will be finalised and announced until after the general election.
Show us the details
Sky is typical of BT’s major rivals, welcoming the notion of ducts become available to third parties, so they can roll out their own fibre networks with minimum disruption and lower cost. The question remains, though, what are the details.
A spokesperson for Sky told SamKnows.com.
“While we have no plans for wide-scale fibre services at present, we support the principle of open infrastructure, just as our satellite platform has been open since 1998. Access to ducts, alongside the provision of attractive wholesale products, is one of the steps which will help to encourage competition and innovation. It will be necessary to see the detail of BT’s proposals before assessing their impact.”
Talking up fibre?
Nevertheless TalkTalk would appear to consider the move from BT as an olive branch, following its recent vocal criticism of suggested wholesale fibre products and prices. The move could well pave the way for TalkTalk to not rely solely on BT’s wholesale product and instead invest in its own network, according to a TalkTalk spokesperson.
“We're at the forefront of the debate about how best to provide super fast broadband to our customers. We're talking to BT and Ofcom and are part of the current BT Openreach fibre trial. We're considering a range of options including our own fibre trial.”
Faster connections on the way
Be Broadband perhaps managed to provide the most optimistic and cautious response to BT’s move. While it welcomed the initiative, it is waiting on BT to formally confirm it is to open it fibre ducts before outlining how this will enable it to provide faster broadband access for its customers.
Tom Williams, Head of Operations at BE Broadband, commented:
“The news that BT is 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.
“Consumers will and have started to demand more and more speed for the broadband and I believe we are already seeing more consideration in buying behaviour in the broadband market. People are looking for non-traffic shaped connections that give them unfettered access to their digital lives, which BE currently gives them, but only the opening up of BT’s infrastructure and the introduction fibre to the majority of the UK will allows this to happen.”
In an analysts’ call this morning BT was reported to have revealed that fibre has become a heavily politicised technology and so it could not yet clearly elaborate on its plans, other than to confirm it is still in talks with the Government and Ofcom.
With an election due in May, and possibly due in April, it is highly unlikely there will be any detail on BT’s plans for several months to come.
'Sky - satellite platform has been open since 1998'? I'll go out a buy a PVR to record some Sky channels tomorrow.
12 Feb 2010 | 21.00 Europe/London