Companies news August 2017

BT/Openreach developments:

Further to last month’s update regarding the decision by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in favour of BT over Ofcom in relation to the regulator’s dark fibre access proposals, ISP Review reported that the Openreach had cancelled the launch of dark fibre access products. Also see a statement from CityFibre which opposed the introduction of dark fibre access (more background on this here and here).

Ofcom published a further consultation in relation to its Wholesale Local Access (WLA) market review (also see this update from March 2017), setting out how Ofcom intends to amend its charge control proposals in the light of the additional costs BT would incur if its recent offer to deliver the broadband USO was to be taken forward. Also see commentaries from ISP Review and ThinkBroadband, which also published an analysis of the size of the proposed BT USO footprint.

The Telegraph reported comments by TalkTalk chief executive Tristia Harrison that BT’s USO offer is "legally questionable"  and will be “more complicated and more expensive to implement than it may at first appear”. BBC News and ISP Review reported that the Scottish Government had written to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in the light of BT’s offer, warning that its acceptance would risk extending BT’s monopoly in rural areas.

ISP Review reported that a leaked copy of Openreach’s consultation document on the large-scale deployment of full fibre broadband, which could cover up to 10 million premises by around 2025, sets the cost of such a deployment as being between £3bn and £6bn.

The Telegraph, Telecompaper and ISP Review reported that Vodafone is in early talks with Openreach about a possible joint investment in fibre-optic networks in UK cities (also see this previous post).

Further BT/Openreach news this month from ISP Review:

• The street cabinet extension pods used to house G.fast equipment have been spotted in a number of locations outside of the announced pilot areas for the technology, including areas covered by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) supported deployments.
• Openreach announced that their G.fast pilot is being expanded to include 26 new locations across the UK, covering one million premises by the end of 2017.
• A trial of a combined fibre to the distribution point (FTTdp) and G.fast technology using equipment from NetComm Wireless achieved a peak aggregate speed of 1.66Gbit/s.
• There have been significant improvements to G.fast speeds since last year’s trial.
• Openreach announced a reduction in the wholesale rental price of its 330Mbit/s fibre to the premise (FTTP) service  to be more attractive to residential consumers.
• ADTRAN and BT are working towards conducting the first lab trials of G.mgfast technology in 2019, which could deliver speeds up to 5-10Gbit/s over traditional copper lines.

Other companies news this month:

• The Financial Times reported on the recent significant investment in UK broadband by alternative network (altnet) providers: “in the past three months, some £500m worth of equity and new debt has been invested in companies installing small alternative networks”. Major altnet providers include Truespeed Communications, CityFibre, Gigaclear, Community Fibre and Hyperoptic.
• The Telegraph reported that Three is to overhaul of its network as demand continues to increase and in preparation for 5G. The Financial Times reported on Three’s call for Ofcom to introduce a 30% cap on the amount of spectrum that any one operator can own in its forthcoming spectrum auction, following Three’s statement criticising Ofcom’s proposals last month.
• The Telegraph and ISP Review later reported that Three had written to Ofcom threatening a judicial review unless the regulator changes the auction’s rules. ISP Review also reported that EE had launched its own proceedings against Ofcom to fight the restrictions being threatened for the 3.4GHz band, while the Telegraph reported that O2 had backed EE’s challenge.
• In its latest results Liberty Global reported that Virgin Media’s Project Lightning network expansion has reached almost 800,000 premises.
• Hyperoptic announced that it had been chosen by Newcastle City Council to deliver gigabit broadband services across 25 of its social housing developments.
• WarwickNet announced plans to increase its offering from 180 to 750 sites nationwide over the next 12 to 18 months.
• CityFibre launched its gigabit network for SME businesses and public sector sites in Leicester and Nottingham, with connections to be available in the autumn. Entanet announced new full fibre internet access and Ethernet services that will be delivered via CityFibre’s network.
• Utility network provider GTC announced improvements to  its fibre to the premise (FTTP) service for developers that are members of the Home Builders Federation.