Ofcom Blocks Openreach Fibre Discount on UK Competition Concerns

The decision affects Openreach’s “Incremental New to Openreach Customer Offer,” one of several commercial proposals the network operator submitted to the regulator in June and July. Ofcom concluded that charges under that particular offer failed to meet the fair-and-reasonable standard established by its Telecoms Access Review for 2026-31, Broadband TV News reported.

The ruling underscores regulatory scrutiny of pricing in Britain’s increasingly competitive fibre market, where Openreach faces a growing collection of alternative network operators seeking to establish viable rivals to the incumbent infrastructure provider.

Ofcom had already set out provisional findings during a consultation in July before issuing its final determination Monday, according to the publication. The regulator cleared Openreach’s other notified commercial proposals, finding they did not create the same competition concerns.

Openreach said the outcome was consistent with the position Ofcom had previously outlined during the consultation process. James Lowther, the company’s managing director for commercial, said Openreach had proposed the discount in an effort to help its wholesale customers compete and offer greater value to households.

Openreach continues to believe the proposal would have supported both consumers and competition, Lowther said, adding that the company would examine Ofcom’s decision and maintain discussions with the regulator and its customers, according to Broadband TV News.

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The company plans to move ahead with its remaining commercial offers. Those include a fibre-to-the-premises proposal applying within Virgin Media O2’s footprint and an Ethernet offer aimed at business customers, the publication reported.

The decision drew a cautiously positive response from Openreach’s competitors.

Virgin Media welcomed Ofcom’s intervention while arguing that the regulator could have taken stronger action. A company spokesperson said continued oversight of Openreach would be important as wholesale fibre competition develops, according to Broadband TV News. Virgin Media also tied the wider competitive debate to consolidation among alternative fibre operators, including nexfibre’s planned acquisition of Netomnia.

Nexfibre similarly characterized Ofcom’s decision as a positive measure for competition but said it wanted regulators to go further. The company criticized what it described as repeated pricing changes by Openreach through special commercial offers and said alternative networks need sufficient incentives to continue investing and reach greater scale.

Nexfibre also argued that its proposed Netomnia acquisition would create a larger competitor capable of increasing investment and consumer choice, according to the Broadband TV News report.

For Openreach, the setback applies to one element of a broader commercial strategy rather than its entire package of fibre incentives. Lowther said the company intends to continue investing in UK digital infrastructure while proceeding with the offers that Ofcom allowed to move forward.

Source: Broadband TV News