As the likes of Virgin Media continue to make great strides in the UK broadband market, British Telecom sees more and more customers returning to the fold and Vodafone and Three Mobile take on the mobile broadband market, slowly but surely competition in the sector is coming under pressure. This is the reason why OFCOM is vital to the development of the UK broadband industry as there is a requirement to maintain a healthy competition for the benefit of consumers.
It is also vital that the regulators allow broadband providers to invest in their own technology and their own systems and also allow them to make a return from this investment. The recent deal with British Telecom, which effectively allowed BT broadband to increase prices in return for a significant investment in the UKs first national fibre-optic network, was criticised by many but ultimately is a vital element of the UK broadband sector going forward.
The truth is that Internet users in the UK have enjoyed a very competitive marketplace as the development of the UK broadband market gathered pace, but prices have been kept artificially low due to the need to attract customers and cash flow. Now that we have reached a new era in the development of UK broadband market there is a need for significant investment in the short, medium and longer term, part of which will need to come from UK consumers and UK businesses.