July 1, 2019

Ofcom has confirmed final decisions on its reviews of:

• the physical infrastructure market (access to Openreach’s ducts and poles); and
• connections that are used by business broadband networks.

Ofcom’s statement sets out how it will regulate these markets for the period to April 2021.

Last month, Ofcom submitted a draft of its decisions to the European Commission for consultation. Following its review, while the Commission provided comments, there were no material changes to Ofcom’s final decisions from the draft published in May.

Ofcom says that companies laying high-speed fibre cables for broadband and mobile networks will benefit from greater access to Openreach’s existing infrastructure of telegraph poles and underground tunnels, under the decisions.

The business connectivity market review looks at “leased lines”, i.e. high-speed data connections used by large organisations, which form the backbone of the UK’s mobile and broadband networks. To read Ofcom’s news release explaining the new rules, click here.