UK Stares at Broadband Price Hike
An Ofcom Ruling that came on Friday May 22, prompts British Telecoms to increase the broadband access charges for its rival internet service providers, especially the local loop unbundlers. According to this fresh move, the unbundled line charges may rise to GBP 86.40 from GBP 81.69. Beside, one thing that virtually intimidates the broadband providers of the UK is the fact that the watchdog for the UK communications has already allowed Openreach, the retail broadband division of BT, to make a fair return on its broadband activities of the future. Obviously, these also cover the country-wide optic-fibre network, widely regarded as the next generation broadband.
The soft part of the fresh move from the part of Ofcom is that the impact of it on the broadband customer may not be felt in the near future, although it is almost obvious that the prices for broadband service in the UK is all set for a hike in the short to medium term, mainly due to cope with the price rise of the individual telephone lines. Virgin Media is meanwhile one internet service provider that at present operates its own broadband network, and has been engaged in discussions with the other ISPs to lease capacity on its network. Reading through the lines, expert broadband analysts foresee a price-war in the wholesale market for broadband in the UK, as Virgin Media looks all set to take on BT in this segment. The lone doubt that stands tall is the line sharing capacity of Virgin Media against the mighty infrastructure of BT.
However, it is known that BT has grimly if not angrily reacted to the fresh proposals of the regulator, giving the notion that more is store for the broadband consumers in the UK. Beside, it has also sounded a warning that the rates mentioned in the new proposals were still too low that they were adequate for the broadband wholesaler to recover its costs fully.
