There is intense speculation that this week will see Ofcom finally give British Telecom the green light for the creation of the U.K.’s first nationwide fibre-optic network. After over two years of industry consultation it looks as though British Telecom has won the battle of wills with Ofcom and its competitors and will be allowed to make a return on its significant investment into the new network. So how will the new network operator?
While we await publication of the official report it appears as though the British Telecom network of the future will provide broadband speeds up to 20 times faster than those available today. The network will be available on a wholesale basis to competitors although the wholesale price of access to the network will be very much different than that of today. It is also worth noting that Virgin Media is currently looking to improve its cable network and deliver speeds of up to 50Mbps exclusively to its own customers. However, Virgin Media may not have everything its own way!
Ofcom has made it very clear that at some point in the future, yet to be confirmed, the regulator expects Virgin Media to make its own cable network available to competitors in a similar manner to British Telecom. This is a significant blow for Virgin Media and the company is sure a fight the issue for as long as possible.