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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Technology
Jon Robinson

TalkTalk welcomes lower prices ruling after BT's Openreach plans get green light

TalkTalk has welcomed BT being given the all-clear to roll out its wholesale full-fibre offer which will give lower prices to wholesale customers.

The likes of Sky and Vodafone will also benefit after the telecoms watchdog Ofcom found the proposals were not anti-competitive.

BT’s network arm Openreach, which runs the UK's only national broadband network, put forward plans for a pricing deal that would give lower prices to wholesale customers.

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But this was only if they agreed to use mainly Openreach’s full-fibre products for new orders instead of its legacy copper products.

The plans – called Equinox 2 – were criticised by BT’s competitors, such as Virgin Media O2.

TalkTalk CEO Tristia Harrison said: "This decision is good news for consumers, competition, and the ongoing rollout of full fibre. TalkTalk is pleased to be uniquely connecting consumers and businesses to full fibre at scale, through both Openreach, and alternative fibre builders.

"Today's decision will mean that full fibre remains affordable, whilst securing roll-out investment and maintaining thriving competition."

An Ofcom spokesman said: "Our overriding objective is to bring better broadband to people across the UK, by promoting competitive investment in high-speed networks and making sure there’s a level playing field for all companies.

"With this in mind, and based on the evidence available to us, we don’t consider Openreach’s new pricing discounts to be anti-competitive."

It said it had taken into account the impact of the pricing plans on consumers, rival broadband providers and so-called altnets – which are new fibre builders.

Ofcom added that by not blocking the plans, BT is able to "engage in network-based competition, without compromising our objective of promoting investment in gigabit-capable networks".

Openreach has also pledged not to change its pricing under the plans until at least March 31 2026, according to Ofcom.

Katie Milligan, chief commercial officer at Openreach, added: "This is good news for customers as it means lower prices and long-term certainty – encouraging the switch to faster, more reliable broadband connections.

"It’s also good news for the UK, as it supports our continued multibillion-pound investment in upgrading the country’s broadband infrastructure.”

But the pricing deal has raised concerns among some rivals about Openreach’s move to discuss and develop discounts with retail providers.

"Having carefully assessed information from providers and altnets, we do not have concerns that warrant further investigation at this time," Ofcom said.

Ofcom had delayed its final decision that was due in March, which put back Openreach’s plans to launch the new pricing structure on April 1.

Ofcom said at the time of postponing the decision that it was concerned by remarks made in a newspaper report by BT boss Philip Jansen that its Openreach fibre rollout would "end in tears" for rivals, and that it needed more time to take into account responses to its probe.

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