Posted: 02nd Feb, 2012 By: MarkJ
BTOpenreach, which provides rival ISPs with equal access to BT's local UK telecoms infrastructure, has finally revealed how much it intends to charge for their new
Fibre Voice Access (FVA-FTTP) product that will be delivered over truly fibre optic
Fibre-to-the-Premises ( FTTP ) based lines (not available on [40-80Mbps] FTTC lines).
Fibre Voice Access essentially delivers a
dedicated path to an
Analogue Terminal Adaptor. This allows ISPs and other Communications Providers' to offer voice (telephone) services over full fibre optic lines and instead of having to use an old analogue alternative.
According to BTOpenreach,
FVA-FTTP will be priced at a rental of
£183.48 +vat per year (£15.29 a month) when bought as a
stand-alone service. The one-off connection price will be £80 +vat, which is the same as BT's other fibre based superfast broadband services; it is also subject to the same FTTP contract (12 month) and service terms. Now for the
special offer blurb.
BT Openreach Statement
FVA-FTTP will be available at a special offer rental price of £103.68pa when bought as a standalone service at an existing Fibre to the Premises Optical Network Termination (ONT) device. This offer will continue until 28 February 2014.
Furthermore, an introductory Early Market Deployment offer will apply for four months, from 1 March 2012 until 30 June 2012, where FVA-FTTP will be provided free-of-charge, with no connection or rental charges applying.
Openreach is also pleased to confirm pricing for a new call divert capability, known as Call Divert for Voice Continuity, to be used during migration from Wholesale Line Rental (WLR) to FVA-based voice services. Use of this capability will be charged at £10 per transaction, reduced to £7.50 when in conjunction with a FVA-FTTP connection.
It's important to stress that the above FVA-FTTP prices are what ISPs must pay to BT and consumer services, which have yet to be revealed, will naturally carry a premium (i.e. ISP profit margins etc.). Call charges are likely to mirror that of a standard analogue line but at this price it might be difficult to encourage consumer adoption.