{"id":34230,"date":"2023-04-19T07:57:22","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T06:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=34230"},"modified":"2023-04-19T07:57:22","modified_gmt":"2023-04-19T06:57:22","slug":"video-quickline-and-zen-internet-ceos-debate-openreach-fttp-price-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2023\/04\/video-quickline-and-zen-internet-ceos-debate-openreach-fttp-price-cuts.html","title":{"rendered":"VIDEO – Quickline and Zen Internet CEOs Debate Openreach FTTP Price Cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

The debate over whether or not Openreach<\/a>’s proposed “Equinox 2<\/em>” discount scheme for their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP<\/a>) based broadband ISP products is anticompetitive has just been well summarised by the bosses of broadband ISP Zen Internet<\/a> and Quickline<\/a>, which in a new video argue from different sides of the fence.<\/p>\n

At the end of last year Openreach<\/a> revealed that it would introduce another round of wholesale discounts on their full fibre products from 1st April 2023 (here<\/a>), which would help ISPs on the same network to stay competitive with newer and often cheaper alternative networks (Summary of UK Full Fibre Builds<\/strong><\/a>). Lower prices could also boost take-up by consumers and thus aid the move away from copper lines.<\/p>\n

However, more than a few rival networks viewed the move as being anti-competitive (here<\/a>), with CityFibre<\/a> even lodging a Competition Act complaint with the Competition and Markets Authority<\/strong> (CMA) and Ofcom<\/a> (here<\/a>). Ofcom<\/a> provisionally ruled in February 2023 that Openreach<\/a>’s new offer was “not anti-competitive<\/em>” (here<\/a>), but in March 2023 they opted to impose a two-month delay on Equinox 2’s implementation after identifying “issues which require further assessment<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Yesterday’s debate at the Connected North<\/strong><\/a> event in Manchester helped to underline the divisions over this, as the CEOs of Zen Internet<\/a> (Richard Tang<\/strong>) and Quickline<\/a> (Sean Royce<\/strong>) argued both for and against the proposed discount scheme.<\/p>\n

Just to give this some context. Zen Internet<\/a> is an ISP that uses both Openreach and CityFibre<\/a>’s networks – nationally, while Quickline<\/a> is an ISP that is also building their own FTTP<\/a> network in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. Needless to say, the 8-minute video provides a useful and polite summary of the different views. In case it wasn’t obvious, Richard argues in favour of the discounts, while Sean is opposed (Zen’s position here is of most interest, given the rival networks they harness).<\/p>\n