You mean the squeeze stuff that has already been ruled on

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/6897-ofcom-reword...

Half the country at least can go to a different loop, so seems amazing given how bad Openreach is that people like Virgin Media don't have more customers.

That figure should rise to 70% in a couple of years. Perhaps Government and Industry should just back Virgin Media?

Commissioned by TalkTalk puts up a red flag for me..
(And its supposed to be confidential.. )

Not saying is wrong but I'd suggest an independent commissioned report may be a little less biased.

I also read they talk about reusing ducts but the original cost of putting the ducts in doesn't seem to be mentioned very clearly and lots of assumptions of course in the business case.

If is so cheap is there a reason why VM haven't massively expanded or Talk Talk for that matter ? Again reports like this on their own may have some use but may not show the full picture.

Thanks, Andrew. Better late than never, and yet the devil, as ever, is in the detail. Ofcom writes in its March 2015 news bulletin you quote:

From 1 April [2015] a pricing rule will mean BT must maintain a sufficient margin between its wholesale and retail superfast broadband charges, in order to allow other providers profitably to match its prices.

Costing the provision of an 'average' FTTC service will remain Openreach's responsibility, so there will be considerable scope for "creative accounting" in Newgate Street!

BT could be minded to exaggerate the provisioning cost for a FTTC line, and thus disguise a greater profit within its Openreach division!

BT would surely never do that though. Or would it?!

The issues are

1. Current Openreach performance levels on installs/repairs
2. Clear desire from several providers that they'd like a separate firm for the local loop that they can exert more pressure over, i.e. mould to their needs
3. Legacy debates over whether UK telecoms should be nationalised
4. Equivalence of input has produced exactly what one would expect, nothing too exciting but job is usually done.

I feel like Openreach should be forced to roll out FTTP to everyone if they are to remain part of BT.

Why? Who do you expect to pay for a national roll-out? BT or the Government? Remember BT is a company answerable to its shareholders in exactly the same way as Vodafone, Sky, TalkTalk and Liberty Global (VM) and the shareholders in each of those companies expect to see a profit generated from any investment.

In reply to a post by MCM:

Why? Who do you expect to pay for a national roll-out? BT or the Government? Remember BT is a company answerable to its shareholders in exactly the same way as Vodafone, Sky, TalkTalk and Liberty Global (VM) and the shareholders in each of those companies expect to see a profit generated from any investment.

They would get a return on their investment. Fibre is at an all time low cost-wise.

Until our taxes go to a company that isn't BT, this problem won't be resolved.

It is said Openreach is a private company but to me it seems to me semi-nationalised. Like I say, they have to use our taxes to fund FTTC but they can afford to blow money on sports.

Sky and others also might not like that unless the terms fit their own plans

Like I say, they have to use our taxes to fund FTTC.

That is incorrect. What has happened is that BDUK has gap funded, using tax payer and rate payers money, the installation of FTTC to areas where BT says it would not be commercially viable to upgrade. That is very different from saying that taxpayers have funded FTTC.

but they can afford to blow money on sports

As for BT blowing money on sport, here I agree, but as a commercial company answerable to its shareholders it can invest in whatever it considers to give it the best return and that doesn't include installing FTTC cabinets on cabs with 60 lines where there is little chance of any return on their cash, hence BDUK gap funding the installation. What I object to is that BT broadband users are paying for BT sport whether they want it or not although they always have the option of changing their ISP if they don't like it.