Regulator Fines Manx Telecom £100k Over Fibre Dispute with BT and Sure

The Communications and Utilities Regulatory Authority (CURA) for the Isle of Man, which is a British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland, has fined dominant broadband and telecoms operator Manx Telecom £100,000 for failing to correctly handle Sure’s request for an interconnection with BT’s subsea fibre cable.

The first thing to understand in all this is that the responsibility for ensuring that the related request and interconnection agreement was appropriately negotiated and concluded (in compliance with licence conditions and other regulatory obligations) rests with Manx Telecom. No other operator could have provided the access that is required to interconnect with BT.

However, following an initial request in 2023 by Sure for interconnection with BT’s sub-sea cable via the 21CN Optical Core Node and related discussions for just such an agreement, Manx Telecom then withdrew options previously presented to BT and Sure “without any objective justification” (these were said to be the most efficient and cost-effective options from Sure’s perspective).

The investigation by CURA ultimately found that this meant Manx Telecom had breached its regulatory obligations and hence the £100k fine to discourage a repeat of the same behaviour.

CURE Statement

The Authority held that the withdrawal of the options for solutions at the two sites where BT has its Points of Presence on the Island was not reasonable. In order to take the actions that Manx Telecom did there needs to be solid, tangible plans in place that predate the request. As nothing was forthcoming in this regard the Authority sees no grounds to change its view that Manx Telecom breached Condition 1 of its Licence as set out in the Notice of Contravention.

To that end, the Authority is satisfied that, having taken into account all information before it, the proposed penalty remains appropriate.

The BBC News also covered this story and included a statement from Manx Telecom, which said they’re now working to “enhance” their processes and will be “implementing new policies to improve future interconnection procedures“, which they claim is “demonstrating a strong commitment to collaboration and innovation“.

A spokesperson for Sure welcomed the decision and the “subsequent fulfilment of our access request, which directly supports the delivery of our services to customers“.