By Lutz Schüler
As the infamous 1990s BT advertising strapline said: “It’s good to talk.” But while Britain’s telecoms incumbent still enjoys the dominance it did when Bob Hoskins was on our screens, it seems the modern-day monopolist would now quite like the market to fall silent.
Even with billions of pounds of investment over the past decade, the UK’s fibre landscape is now more fragmented and unstable than ever, with around 100 struggling alternative networks, many backers looking for the fire exit and still no national-scale alternative to BT’s Openreach.
While the green shoots of meaningful competition are starting to emerge, it’s clear the next stage of the UK’s fibre story will be about consolidation to improve economics and create a genuine challenger to the incumbent. That will result in proper network choice at scale for other operators and in turn better services for consumers and businesses.
Earlier this year Ofcom published the conclusions of its major broadband market review, which largely echoed this sentiment. The regulator was clear that rules on Openreach must remain, as it takes time for other networks to “achieve scale and for competition to become established”.
Ofcom stressed that it would “restrict Openreach’s ability” on certain offers unless they gain consent and reemphasised concerns on other terms that could undermine network competition.
For many, this was seen as a welcome sign of Ofcom providing stability and being prepared to keep the incumbent in check. For BT, it seems Ofcom’s conclusions were heard as a dinner bell to start feasting on fibre challengers as it launched a platter of substantial discounts.
Given Ofcom waived through previous pricing packages, you can’t blame BT for trying, but these offers are different and come at a crucial time. The carefully designed proposals encourage providers to lock in and move more customers on to the Openreach network through a series of interrelated discount structures, amounting to two years of free fibre line rental in some cases.
In areas where Virgin Media O2 operates, Openreach is going further by geographically incentivising the poaching of customers in an attempt, to quote its chief executive, “test the waters” and then elbow drop the biggest future competitive threat it faces.
While the soundbite of lower rates may sound great on the surface, and Openreach will spin this as benevolently passing on efficiencies, don’t be fooled. BT’s behaviour is a prime example of a dominant force flexing its muscles to squeeze out emerging competition and then raise prices later.
The big issue here is that the incumbent is repeatedly drip-feeding new offers into the market in a tactical way, so providers rely on the Openreach discount drug and think twice about making commitments with other networks. This is not a fair playing field. It creates uncertainty for investors and goes against the direction Ofcom set for the market in March. At a time when Britain’s fibre market is wobbling, we have a window to act, and that moment is now.
In the short term, Ofcom should stick to the principles of its telecoms market review and stop BT using its significant power to harm emerging wholesale competition by blocking these offers. But the longer-term solution here is structural.
The CMA is currently reviewing Nexfibre’s acquisition of Netomnia – a landmark deal that kickstarts necessary consolidation, unlocks £3.5bn of investment into the UK, accelerates fibre access and leads to a wholesale fibre competitor covering 20 million homes. It’s crucial that this transaction is cleared at pace, so BT Openreach faces the scaled competition it clearly fears. That’s what real, fair challenge looks like.
The UK telecoms industry faces a fundamental choice – keep the status quo of a BT Openreach network monopoly or ensure this dominance is broken once and for all. While it’s good to talk, now is the time for action.
Lutz Schüler is the chief executive of Virgin Media O2
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