Ofcom sets stage for 100Mb broadband

 

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Posted on 23 Sep 2008 at 11:05

Ofcom has begun consulting on new proposals for encouraging the investment and competition it deems necessary for delivering next-generation broadband in the UK.

The telecoms regulator wants to ensure that future UK broadband will deliver speeds of up to 100Mb/sec, utilising new networks based on fibre optics rather than copper wires.

“Super-fast broadband will benefit consumers by allowing, for example, different members of a household to download material quickly whilst simultaneously watching films in high-definition TV,” it says. “It will also enable multiple business services such as two-way video calls, improved data storage facilities and provide more opportunities for working from home.”

To that end, Ofcom has set out five key issues that need to be addressed: developing clear standards for wholesale products, thereby allowing communications providers to compete and innovate; ensuring pricing freedom where there is effective competition; investigation of the scope for competition exists based on access to existing telecoms infrastructure, building on the success of local loop unbundling; effecting a smooth transition from copper to fibre; and establishing a framework for working with interested parties including industry, the UK Government and the European Commission.

The consultation also outlines Ofcom’s proposals on the potential role for the public sector in delivering new investment, such as targeting those locations where the market is least likely to deliver new networks.

Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards said that steps towards these ends have already been taken, with the implementation of regulations governing the installation of fibre networks in new property developments, such as those in Wembley Park in London, Ebbsfleet in Kent, Titanic Quarter in Belfast and MediaCityUK in Salford, Manchester.

“I am delighted that investment in fibre is already underway and other plans are taking shape,” he said. “Fibre networks are one of the most exciting developments in communications that the UK has ever seen. Ofcom’s plan of action will encourage further investment while promoting and sustaining competition so we can all benefit.”

For details of the proposals see Delivering super-fast broadband in the UK. Ofcom has also set up a Superfast broadband blog.

But cost, not Ofcom’s regulatory framework, remains the greatest obstacle to fibre rollout. BT has unveiled plans for a £1.5 billion fibre network to as many as 10 million homes by 2010, but that is a fraction of the £28.8 billion that the government’s Broadband Stakeholder Group estimates it will cost to connect every home in the country. Ofcom may yet have to hop for a positive outcome from its investigations into the possibility of squeezing 50Mb/sec out of the existing copper infrastructure.

[photo: optic by kainet; some rights reserved]

Author: Simon Aughton