Regulator tells BT to open up cable network

[pip08456]

Originally Posted by sollp

Yes, but i was really getting at we are providing a backhaul for the competition so they can have the capacity for there broadband

And what is wrong with that? Is that not what OFCOM wants (and says they are going to do)?

I know BT has ample "Black Fibre" available for the near future and assume VM has too.

The point of this thread is what OFCOM say they are going to introduce which sounds good for them in the public eye but most of it already exists.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by pip08456

And what is wrong with that? Is that not what OFCOM wants (and says they are going to do)?

I know BT has ample "Black Fibre" available for the near future and assume VM has too.

The point of this thread is what OFCOM say they are going to introduce which sounds good for them in the public eye but most of it already exists.

I don't know if that is what OFCOM wants. I get the impression that they want broadband internet provision to operate along the same lines as the electricity and gas industries. Essentially that billing and provision are separate and while you are free to change "providers", the provider you change is merely the company that bills you, and the service always comes from the same company,

This is how the electricity industry operates. You can change from (say) Npower to (say) British Gas and BG will take over things like maintenance of your local meter, meter readings, billing etc. You may even pay less, but your electricity will ALWAYS come from the same local electricity company.

Originally Posted by Stuart

I don't know if that is what OFCOM wants. I get the impression that they want broadband internet provision to operate along the same lines as the electricity and gas industries. Essentially that billing and provision are separate and while you are free to change "providers", the provider you change is merely the company that bills you, and the service always comes from the same company,

This is how the electricity industry operates. You can change from (say) Npower to (say) British Gas and BG will take over things like maintenance of your local meter, meter readings, billing etc. You may even pay less, but your electricity will ALWAYS come from the same local electricity company.

The electricity market is a hell of a lot more complicated than that.

Your old-fashioned regional electricity board now merely provides the distribution network. National Grid provides the transmission network, as it previously did. Various private companies operate power stations, and all of your electricity comes from these, not from the same old local company.

Broadly speaking, the retailer you buy from has to agree contracts for supply into the grid from the various generating companies. It pays the generators for the proportion of their output that relates to the contract between them, and it pays for distribution services over the local network to your house. They then bill you the total plus their own costs and their profit margin. Different regional distributors face different challenges in operating their networks, and charge different amounts, which is why you may find, with smaller retailers, there is a difference in what they charge customers depending on where in the UK they are.

[pip08456]

Originally Posted by sollp

Yes, but i was really getting at we are providing a backhaul for the competition so they can have the capacity for there broadband

Openreach is an infrastructure provider to all CP's it must treat each and everyone the same.

[fatmat8]

you guys are just a mine of information thank you .

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Chris

The electricity market is a hell of a lot more complicated than that.

Your old-fashioned regional electricity board now merely provides the distribution network. National Grid provides the transmission network, as it previously did. Various private companies operate power stations, and all of your electricity comes from these, not from the same old local company.

Broadly speaking, the retailer you buy from has to agree contracts for supply into the grid from the various generating companies. It pays the generators for the proportion of their output that relates to the contract between them, and it pays for distribution services over the local network to your house. They then bill you the total plus their own costs and their profit margin. Different regional distributors face different challenges in operating their networks, and charge different amounts, which is why you may find, with smaller retailers, there is a difference in what they charge customers depending on where in the UK they are.

I realise I massively oversimplified i, but as I was using the example of the electricity industry to show how I thought that OFCOM appear to be looking to split the broadband industry into providers and retailers (this is, as you say, how the energy market works).

Of course, assuming it's true, it doesn't necessarily follow that it will provide the best options to the customers. I don't think that the Energy market is currently working in the interest of the consumer.

[pip08456]

Originally Posted by Stuart

I thought that OFCOM appear to be looking to split the broadband industry into providers and retailers

What then would be different?

Openreach own and maintain the infrastructure, BT Wholesale is the provider and ISP's are the retailers.

There are a couple of exceptions to this who have their own backhaul from BT exchanges eg. Sky but basically that is what already is in existance.

Originally Posted by pip08456

What then would be different?

Openreach own and maintain the infrastructure, BT Wholesale is the provider and ISP's are the retailers.

There are a couple of exceptions to this who have their own backhaul from BT exchanges eg. Sky but basically that is what already is in existance.

The difference would be that Openreach and BT Retail would be fully separate companies.

Despite them functioning separately at present, as long as they are both held by the same parent, investment decisions made for Openreach are always going to be ones that favour BT Retail whilst not necessarily favouring other retailers.