Openreach Sets Price Hikes for UK ISPs Feeding FTTP via Leased Lines

Openreach (BT) has today set out the wholesale prices that alternative network (AltNet) builders will have to pay when using the operator’s Ethernet (e.g. EAD) products to feed their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband services to end-users, which caused some annoyance within the market.

The issue arose after Openreach last year (here) shocked smaller AltNets with a new charge notification, which was originally due to be introduced on 1st January 2021 and centred around “price changes for leased line circuits being used to aggregate FTTP to multiple premises” (Briefing GEN102/20). Suddenly such ISPs found themselves facing a new annual charge, which ranged from £560.00 +vat on 1Gbps Ethernet (e.g. EAD) products and went all the way up to £11,060.00 for certain other optical spectrum products.

Some AltNets described the change as “overtly aggressive,” while others said it was “punitive,” reflected “totally shocking behaviour,” and several viewed it as a “massive game changer for the UK altnet industry.” But despite those complaints, Ofcom’s Wholesale Fixed Telecoms Market Review 2021-26 ultimately waved the changes through (here).

“We do not consider such access to be reasonable as telecoms providers already deploying their own fibre access networks are able to use [Physical Infrastructure Access] for these connections,” said the regulator while making reference to the product that allows AltNets to run their own fibre through Openreach’s existing ducts and over their poles.

However, Openreach did recognise that such providers needed more time to adapt and as such they opted to delay the introduction of their change from January 2021 to the new effective date of 1st December 2021. Today’s briefing is thus effectively a re-announcement of those price hikes, albeit centred around the new date.

Katie Milligan, OR MD of Customer, Commercials and Propositions, said:

“We’ve just let Communication Providers (CPs) know about a change to the prices we charge for any leased lines that are being used to aggregate FTTP to homes and businesses from aggregation nodes (for example street cabinets).

We originally announced this change back in November 2020 to be effective from 1st January 2021, but we postponed that until 1st December 2021 to give our customers more time to prepare.

CPs can also continue to use our national network of ducts and poles (known in the industry as ‘Physical Infrastructure Access’ or ‘PIA’) as this product is specifically designed to support new FTTP network builds.”

Apparently, orders for such products that were placed before 1st December 2021, including completed orders, will be unaffected by this policy change, provided that they are not subject to an A-end or B-end rearrange or upgrade orders on or after 1st December 2021.

Where Openreach believe an ISP / AltNet has omitted to self-certify an order, such as one believed to have been placed for the purpose of aggregating FTTP to multiple premises, they will seek clarification of the use case of the relevant circuit(s). Where it is confirmed that circuit(s) are being used for FTTP aggregation, but were not self-certified at order entry, the applicable annual rental charge listed for where the service is used for FTTP aggregation will be applied from the point of confirmation, and the provider will be charged the applicable annual rental charge back to the date of provision, for orders placed from 1st December 2021.