Posted: 28th Apr, 2004 By: MarkJ
Ofcom has today announced a new proposal geared towards making the cost of broadband ADSL migration from BTs IPStream to Datastream (non-BT) platform cheaper. The standard charge of £50 could be cut to just £11, BT is expected to respond soon:
Ofcom proposals on broadband migration charges
Ofcom has today published its proposals for BT's charges for Broadband Access Migration and the terms under which migration is offered to other service providers. These proposals follow Ofcom's investigation into a dispute between BT, Tiscali and Thus.
BT's standard charge to service providers for moving a customer connection from an IPStream broadband product to the DataStream broadband product is currently (GBP) £50, with a special offer, up to the end of April, of (GBP) £25. Service providers have claimed a charge at these levels makes it uneconomic to move to wholesale DataStream broadband services, thereby inhibiting their ability to compete more effectively with BT by taking advantage of alternative wholesale products.
As a result of its analysis Ofcom has today proposed that the migration charge should be reduced from (GBP) £50 to (GBP) £11. Ofcom is consulting on these proposals until 1 June 2004.
BT has notified Ofcom of its intention to change its migration price and will be making a separate announcement later today. BT has also formally requested that Ofcom waive the requirement for BT to notify Ofcom of price changes 28 days before they take affect, which Ofcom has granted. The proposed price change to be announced by BT will take effect on 1 May 2004.
Ofcom Chief Executive Stephen Carter said: "Migration charges can be an obstacle to fair competition. At this price, with robust processes, they should no longer be such an obstacle."
The proposals can be found online at http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/current/broadband_access/