[nidave]

From MediaGuardian:

NTL is facing a regulatory dispute with telecoms operators over access to its network following confirmation yesterday of a $6bn (£3.3bn ) deal to acquire rival Telewest and create a new force in the UK cable industry.

The transaction, combining the two largest players in cable, will be examined by the Office of Fair Trading, with telecoms groups such as BT and Cable & Wireless watching closely to see whether the regulator will open the door for the rest of the industry to launch services on the new company's platform.

But the chief executive-in-waiting of the new company, Simon Duffy, rejected the notion of opening up the network to competitors. The NTL chief executive cited a precedent set by the regulatory inquiry into the merger of NTL and Cable & Wireless's cable network five years ago, which dismissed rivals' calls for access to the platform.

"I don't think we will or should be asked to do it. This was gone over by the competition authorities [in 2000] and they reached the conclusion that increasing the scale of a cable company did not change whether it had significant market power. It's only if there is significant market power that the issue of opening access [to the network] arises."

Since then, NTL and Telewest have evolved from purveyors of telephone and TV services into a force in broadband internet access. Last year cable accounted for 31% of all broadband connections, behind the 56% recorded in the US where cable companies have already been forced to open up but on a par with South Korea and well ahead of European markets such as France (7%) and Germany (2%).

While the OFT is in charge of the inquiry into the proposed merger, it is expected to call upon the telecoms regulator Ofcom for guidance. An Ofcom source said yesterday that the OFT inquiry is a chance for the first detailed look at the cable industry.

Ofcom's recent 18-month investigation of the telecoms market concentrated on helping BT's rivals get hold of its phone lines. Now that BT has put in place a new business - called openreach - to ensure its rivals can use its lines, some within the industry believe attention should turn to cable.

"It is inevitable that [opening up the cable network] will come on to Ofcom's agenda but we would not presume to be the ones to put it there," a spokesman for BT said. An insider in the internet service provider industry went further, saying: "There is a clear consumer benefit to other providers having access to the cable network."

Only AOL has succeeded in using the nation's cable connections to run its own service. Its dial-up internet customers can access AOL's service through both NTL and Telewest, while it has a broadband deal running with NTL. Freeserve, now Wanadoo, announced an access deal with NTL three years ago, but plans were quietly scrapped.

Should NTL be forced to open thier networks - would it be a good or bad thing?

Should a company who spent all that money creating thier own network be forced to let others use it?

Even in BT's Case companies like bulldog have to crete thier own netowrk (ie add thier own equipment to the exchanges) whould any of these potential customers have to supply any of thier own equipment? Does AOL have any of thier own equpment or do they just pay for bandwith and connection?

Whould 3rd parties have to maintain the part of the network that thier customer is on?Would it be BB or could they offer TV and Phone?