Ofcom's WLA statement

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Ofcom has published a statement about the review of the Wholesale Local Access market.

This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com



There is plenty to take in, but I'm just going to highlight a couple of points.

Firstly, because I know we have readers in Hull, you may find section 1.29 of some (galling) interest.

"However, we are not at this stage requiring KCOM to provide any specific access products, such as access to its duct and pole infrastructure. This reflects the continuing limited interest among CPs in competing in the Hull area."

There are others who are better placed to make comments about the (mis)perception that there is 'continuing limited interest'..... Hull City Council as representatives of the citizens and businesses, for one, may wish to step in here...

Secondly, access to BT's ducts and poles

"1.34 Further industry discussion is also needed on the details of the PIA products that BT should offer. The obligation requires BT to produce an initial RO for duct and pole access, describing the services to be made available, within just over three months from the publication of this statement. Significant OCP involvement will be needed, to take BT's proposal forward."

Just over three months from now includes a lengthy Christmas break for many. I'm sure the timing is not deliberate as all of us want to see BT put something useful together sooner rather than later. OCP's = Other Communication Providers, and for the very many planning to get on and build networks that will invariably compete with the incumbent, particularly in the Final Third, it is vital that we all seek involvement in helping BT to create the RO (Reference Offer) which is due by mid-January. (Para 1.23)

I sincerely hope that the initial RO will be a draft, and subjected to industry and community / consumer stakeholder scrutiny before Ofcom acceptance as the last attempt would have made OCP engagement with poles and ducts an almost impossibility. Not that we haven't investigated many of the ins and outs of putting in our own poles and ducts, but it would be preferable if those of us who are determined to make all this happen did not have to clutter the countryside with yet more poles ......;o)



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No more discussions, we need decisions

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Read more! As FCC people wend their way towards our European shores next month for the conference season, let's not lose sight of what is happening elsewhere. It is a particular failing of this isle to filter out events elsewhere in the mistaken belief "we know best".

This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com

Michael Copps, FCC Commissioner, has put out a one paragraph statement that bears several readings. The issue, Net neutrality, is not one which we can avoid either. Nor is his statement so simplistic that we cannot also apply it to our own regulatory environment.

“Some will claim this announcement moves the discussion forward. That’s one of its many problems. It is time to move a decision forward—a decision to reassert FCC authority over broadband telecommunications, to guarantee an open Internet now and forever, and to put the interests of consumers in front of the interests of giant corporations.”

Replace "FCC" with "Ofcom" or "ASA". Focus particularly on "discussion" versus "decision". Consider "authority", "open", "interest", "consumers", and "corporations".

Re-word this statement from current UK or EU perspective, and it is of worthy of 2 minutes consideration by us all in Europe today.

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Ed Richards, Ofcom CEO, on FTTx and regulation

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Read more! "Super-fast broadband is crucial to the UK’s future. These next generation networks form part of the critical infrastructure of the country’s economy and will be central to the way we live our lives in the future.
Super-fast next generation broadband will come to change our perception of communications radically. Alongside mobile broadband, it will, in time, have a similar impact on our society and economy as first generation of broadband.
Not just in information and entertainment, but in how businesses and consumers organise themselves and interact and, increasingly, in aspects of our lifestyles such as healthcare."

Which is nice.

He went on to talk about providing a comfort zone for investors in FTTx to ensure that they could make a fair return. While those comments seemed pretty clearly pitched at BT, which has been arguing the toss for months 'about not yet seeing the business case' for investment, they are also of key importance to those us seeking to develop alternative approaches, such as municipal/cooperative fibre networks.

If OFCOM have a thorough grasp of the developing marketplace, and there is no reason to believe they don't (yet), this statement on investment could help to open the wallets of numerous potential players in the emerging FTTx space, not least those providers of patient capital that may be crucial to municipal/cooperative network development.

Read the full speech, should you wish to, here. Read more!