Posted: 01st May, 2004 By: MarkJ
Speculation has mounted that BT will attempt to pre-empt Ofcom's decision on local loop unbundling (LLU) by making its own cost reductions ahead of any official ruling:
LLU gives rival operators access to BT exchanges to provide telecoms services direct to homes and businesses. Compared to some European countries, rivals argue that the fees charged by BT are just to high.
So far, only around 11,000 phone lines have been unbundled in the UK led by companies such as EasyNet and Bulldog.
On Wednesday, though, Ofcom gave the biggest hint yet that it wants to see LLU fees "aligned" with other European countries in a bid to increase competition in the UK telco market. The regulator is due to publish a review of LLU on 10 May.Rivals, such as Easynet, would obviously welcome cheaper LLU access as it would benefit their existing services.
Wanadoo has also expressed an interest in LLU based broadband, but only if it were made cheaper. More @
The Register.