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OFCOM consult on FTTH pilot pricing in Ebbsfleet
09 Jun 2008 | 22.38 Europe/London
OFCOM have today launched a new public consultation, seeking views on whether BT should be allowed to give discounted connections and voice line rental to up to 300 properties connected by Fibre to the Home (FTTH) in the Ebbsfleet development.
At first glance one might wonder why a consultation is required for this, but the Universal Service Obligation (USO) requires BT to provide a phone line at a uniform price to any home in the UK, meaning that discounting breaks the USO rules.
OFCOM would like to grant permission in order to promote deployment of next generation access methods like FTTH, where there are no copper wires only an optical fibre with a box of electronics on the end. They reason that "allowing BT to discount telephony connection and line rental charges for the Ebbsfleet FTTP Pilot would not undermine the overall effectiveness of the USCs because the consent would be restricted to 300 homes for a limited period only."
The full consultation can be found on the Ofcom website.
As we reported in May, Openreach plan to supply 4000 FTTH broadband connections free of charge at Ebbsfleet with BT Wholesale passing the benefit on in their indicative pricing for WBC (Wholesale Broadband Connect) over FTTH.
This latest consultation and the accompanying letter from Gordon Moir, General Counsel at BT Retail, connects the dots and demonstrates that all three of the main BT companies are coming together to pilot the new technology. With the launch date penciled for only two months away, keen eyes within the telecoms and property development industries will be paying a lot of attention to how this pilot develops.
At first glance one might wonder why a consultation is required for this, but the Universal Service Obligation (USO) requires BT to provide a phone line at a uniform price to any home in the UK, meaning that discounting breaks the USO rules.
OFCOM would like to grant permission in order to promote deployment of next generation access methods like FTTH, where there are no copper wires only an optical fibre with a box of electronics on the end. They reason that "allowing BT to discount telephony connection and line rental charges for the Ebbsfleet FTTP Pilot would not undermine the overall effectiveness of the USCs because the consent would be restricted to 300 homes for a limited period only."
The full consultation can be found on the Ofcom website.
As we reported in May, Openreach plan to supply 4000 FTTH broadband connections free of charge at Ebbsfleet with BT Wholesale passing the benefit on in their indicative pricing for WBC (Wholesale Broadband Connect) over FTTH.
This latest consultation and the accompanying letter from Gordon Moir, General Counsel at BT Retail, connects the dots and demonstrates that all three of the main BT companies are coming together to pilot the new technology. With the launch date penciled for only two months away, keen eyes within the telecoms and property development industries will be paying a lot of attention to how this pilot develops.