BT HAS spoken out against regulations suggested to the European Commission by media watchdog Ofcom which would see the wholesale broadband provider’s prices further capped.
This marks the third time Ofcom has regulated rental costs for BT Openreach, which dominates the wholesale broadband line rental market.
As they currently stand in draft form, the changes would see the price of wholesale line rental through BT Openreach drop from an annual £103.68 to £98.81, decreasing further each year according to the formula retail price index (RPI) less 7.3 per cent.
Wholesale rental of an entire line to a property will cost £87.41 next year, while the lease of part of a line will be charged at £11.92, down from £91.50 and £14.70 respectively – the prices stated by Ofcom’s last review of BT Openreach.
These charges will also decrease each year by a set formula until 31 March 2014.
However, BT said it disagrees with several of Ofcom’s underlying assumptions, such as the weighted cost of capital, level of efficiency savings and rate of inflation.
The British telecoms company said it will consider an appeal if the European Commission approves the suggestions.
After consulting BT stakeholders, customers and competitors last year, Ofcom expects to publish a final decision, with approval from Brussels, in early March.
