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Carphone Criticises OFCOM Openreach Pricing Proposal
08 Mar 2009 | 10.20 Europe/London
Charles Dunstone of Carphone Warehouse is quoted in the Sunday Times complaining about likely price rises for BT's local loop unbundled services. OFCOM's consultation on Openreach pricing closed on Friday after a 2-week extension, so Dunstone is maintaining his lobbying pressure.
OFCOM's consultation showed Openreach failing to make a commercial return on some products either now or in the near future, while the pricing of those products is capped by OFCOM. The largest increase will apply to the MPF product where a competitor takes over the copper line from BT and provides both voice and broadband with their own equipment. Dunstone's Talk Talk are the largest user of MPF with most other LLU providers choosing the cheaper SMPF product to supply broadband only, leaving BT providing voice.
The proposed price rise for MPF is less than £1 per month and would reduce the effective cross subsidy of MPF by SMPF and of LLU by providers using BT Wholesale. As the major loser of such a change it is inevitable that Talk Talk will be aggrieved but there is a clear logic to all Openreach pricing being set on the same basis and not favouring any particular product.
[ Sunday Times ] [ OFCOM consultation ]
OFCOM's consultation showed Openreach failing to make a commercial return on some products either now or in the near future, while the pricing of those products is capped by OFCOM. The largest increase will apply to the MPF product where a competitor takes over the copper line from BT and provides both voice and broadband with their own equipment. Dunstone's Talk Talk are the largest user of MPF with most other LLU providers choosing the cheaper SMPF product to supply broadband only, leaving BT providing voice.
The proposed price rise for MPF is less than £1 per month and would reduce the effective cross subsidy of MPF by SMPF and of LLU by providers using BT Wholesale. As the major loser of such a change it is inevitable that Talk Talk will be aggrieved but there is a clear logic to all Openreach pricing being set on the same basis and not favouring any particular product.
[ Sunday Times ] [ OFCOM consultation ]