The European Commission has made a direct appeal for British Telecom to open up its broadband infrastructure to competitors in the UK. It is the use of overhead cables and underground ducts which is the focus of this request although it is not clear yet whether BT is willing to abide by the request.
It is very difficult to balance BT broadband’s situation, allowing competitors to use its infrastructure while BT is forced to pay the lion’s share of the cost. This is an issue which BT broadband has been very disappointed with over the last few years and the involvement of the European Commission is unlikely to go down very well. It looks as though the European Commission is looking to overrule the UK authorities, again, something which is unlikely to go down very well with the UK government.
There is no doubt that there is now more focus on broadband networks within Europe than ever before due to the fact they will play a major role in future economic activity. Whether the UK authorities can retain control over UK broadband networks, in the face of the European Commission’s power grab, remains to be seen.