Kingston Communications, the UK’s sole remaining municipally owned telco has comes under fire from Liberal Democrat MEP for Yorkshire Diana Wallis for putting a stranglehold on the local broadband market.
Kingston Communications, recently rebranded as KCOM, are noted for their signature cream phone boxes, and is the sole supplier of phone and broadband services in the Hull area.
In a story run in the Independent last week, Wallis was quoted saying that “Businesses [in Hull] are effectively held to ransom, as there is only one supplier. That does not send out the right message to businesses looking to set up in the Hull area. Everybody is proud of their history and the cream-coloured phone boxes, but now it has got to the stage where people want choice and better service.”
A KCOM spokesperson responded last week saying that “We are obliged by Ofcom to make wholesale internet products available to ISPs that wish to provide broadband services in this area via our network […] The broadband market in Hull is open to any ISP who wishes to offer services here. Whether or not they do so is purely a commercial decision for them based on their view of the attractiveness of the market.”
Hull is the only area of the UK not serviced by BT phonelines, and herein lies the problem. The shape and size of the copper wires used in the Hull area is different to that which is used by BT, therefore any operator wishing to open up on the area is going to have to invest in an entirely new set of equipment; fibre-optic cable was never unbundled in Hull, so not even Virgin can set up shop.
It is this ‘Greek Fire’ approach which has seen KCOM remain the sole provider within Hull for years, despite the rest of the UK enjoying what the Independent calls “some of the lowest broadband prices in Europe,” with residents having to pay £16.99 a month for up to 8Mbps broadband with a meagre 2GB cap – you can get more for less throughout the UK, including, funnily enough, Eclipse Internet (owned and run by KCOM) who offer the same up to 8Mbps speed with an unspecified monthly limit from £14.99 a month.
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Darth Littlejohn said on 18 Sep 2007 at 1:58 pm #
Years ago, Hull residents were living the life of Riley with free local calls from Kingston. Tables have turned, huh guys?