Europe gives Ofcom the greenlight for Dark Fibre plans

Having published new rules on Dark Fibre and ‘ducts and poles’ access in May, Ofcom has made no material changes following a review from the European Commission.

The rules are another attempt by Ofcom to encourage more competition in the fixed market and therefore increase investments made by the telcos in offering services in regions which could be deemed as less commercially attractive. Openreach might not be the happiest for the situation, but it is a step towards shortening the digital divide which has emerged in the UK.

Starting with the ducts and poles element, Ofcom has confirmed telcos laying fibre cables for broadband and mobile networks will benefit from greater access to Openreach’s existing infrastructure. The watchdog has used the phrase ‘unrestricted’ though we struggle to believe there are no loop-holes for Openreach to play around with.

This is not necessarily new from Ofcom, but it is an extension of rules which were passed last year. To this point, Openreach had been compelled into opening up access to the infrastructure for competitors serving residential customers and small businesses, though this update extends the rules to large businesses as well.

With enterprise services plugged as the biggest gain for telcos during the 5G era, the greater access to infrastructure competitor telcos have, the more attractive the business case will be for investment and therefore creating innovative services for the verticals. That said, Openreach will not be as happy as others.

This is a former-monopoly which has reaped the benefits of being the dominant player in the market. Employees will be tasked on protecting and profiting as greatly as possible from assets, though if the regulator keeps opening up infrastructure, this becomes more difficult.

The second area worth noting from this ratification from the European Commission addresses Dark Fibre across the country. This is an area Openreach has fought bitterly against though it seems it could only hold back the tide for so long.

The new rules will force Openreach to offer Dark Fibre as a product to other telcos in areas there are no rival networks present at Openreach’s exchanges. These are the areas where Openreach has a continued monopoly thanks to prior public investment and there is a risk of damaging the business case for competitors.

Under the new rules, in these areas where competition is unlikely to emerge organically, ‘dark fibre’ can now be ‘lit’ by competitors with their own equipment. Openreach will be required to give competitors physical access to its fibre-optic cables, at a price that reflects the cost of laying the infrastructure. In areas where there is competition, pricing regulations will be lighter.

Although these new rules are unlikely to be the most profitable for Openreach, there will be plenty of happy faces around the UK. Telcos have been complaining about the regulatory barriers to achieving the perfect 5G/fibre dream the Government has dreamt up, and this is one step in the right direction.