Ofcom not to hack up BT’s next gen network

Ofcom yesterday said that it will not oppose BT’s plans to unroll next-gen fibre connections to some 10 million UK homes over the next three years.

In the Ofcom press release, Ofcom Chief Executive, Ed Richards is quoted saying:

“This is a clear sign that the UK market is moving in the right direction, with a growing number of plans to deliver super-fast broadband services to consumers.

These new networks will be a critical part of the UK’s infrastructure and will change our experience of communications. They will support and deliver innovative applications and services as well as helping create new opportunities for businesses of all kinds.”

The investment, which would see customers enjoying speeds of up to 100Mbps was announced last year and is said to cost around £1.5 billion. BT shareholders were thought to be anxious over the possibility of regulatory intervention from Ofcom; as BT are the leaders in the UK broadband league, investing in next-gen technology could have been interpreted as abusing their position in the market.

Now that Ofcom have given BT the green light, they can get on with unrolling their next-gen network, although by the time they’re due to finish upgrades in 2012, Virgin Media will almost certainly have finished trialling 100Mbps speeds, which are, according to the cable company, achievable on their current network.

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