INCA has submitted a detailed response to the Ofcom consultation Promoting competition and investment in fibre networks and their Initial proposals.
Essentially the points we make are:
- Designating 30% of the country as Market 3 - uncompetitive, and therefore offering regulatory inducements to BT is likely to deter competitive investment in both full fibre and fixed wireless provision in rural areas.
- The inducements may not work in any case since Market 2 (potentially competitive) is likely to be more compelling to BT in order to reduce its loss of market share.
- DCMS is working on plans to support investment in the hardest to reach 10%. Ofcom is working on regulatory policy in Market 3 - and the BUSO. How will these policies work together?
Thanks again to Airband, County Broadband and WightFibre for supporting this work.
The response can be downloaded here.