With a strategy of stimulating infrastructure competition to drive Full Fibre coverage nationwide, Ofcom required Openreach to launch its Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product in 2011.
Fri, 2/08/2024 - 09:37
Five of the largest UK fibre network operators have formed a coalition to push Ofcom for fairer access to Openreach’s physical infrastructure in its upcoming Telecoms Access Review.
nexfibre, AllPoints Fibre, Community Fibre, Gigaclear, and Netomnia and Brsk comprise the new ‘PIA Coalition’ and represent over five million premises ready for service.
The Coalition has conducted an economic analysis of Openreach PIA regulation with SPC Network and found an imbalance between Openreach and altnets regarding pricing for poles and duct access.
According to the coalition, this violates Ofcom regulations that state PIA access must be offered by Openreach in a way that does not discriminate against third-party users.
Giles Rowbotham, spokesperson for the PIA Coalition, and General Counsel and Chief Development Officer at nexfibre, said: “Alternative network operators pay significantly more to access infrastructure compared to Openreach.
“If left unremedied, this disparity risks choking investment, slowing down the rollout of high-speed broadband across the UK, and therefore limiting consumer choice.”