UK Broadband Rules To Be Scrapped?
February 15, 2008 | by Christopher Nickson
Rules set up to encourage competition might be scrapped because there's so much of it in Britain.
Following a review of broadband competition in the UK, the European Commission has given permission for regulations regarding broadband to lapse, the BBC reports.
The regulations were first put in place to draw new entrants into the marketplace and ensure that former monopoly BT didn’t capture most of the market. However, a new review has discovered that in 64% of British markets there was enough competition to ensure no one company could become dominant.
According to the EC, BT has competition from at least four other wholesalers who have installed their equipment in phone exchanges. A spokesman for telecoms regulator Ofcom said,
"In those places there's not the opportunity for a single provider to discriminate and act against the best interests of the consumer."
Because of that, the EC has given permission for the regulations to lapse later this year. Whether Ofcom will actually scrap them, though, remains to be seen. It will make a decision later this year.
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