UK: CityFibre attacks Ofcom’s “poor, inconsistent regulation”

Alternative network provider CityFibre has accused Ofcom of failing in its attempts to curb BT’s dominant position in the UK broadband market, despite the communications watchdog’s vow to bring in “a fair and balanced regulatory regime.

“The London-based company previously warned that it would lodge a complaint with the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal, following the release of Ofcom’s 2016 Business Connectivity Market Review. On Wednesday CityFibre began its battle with Ofcom in the High Court.

CityFibre—which opposes Ofcom’s “dark fibre” plans—claims that the regulator has contradicted its endorsement of competition in the broadband infrastructure market. In March, BT’s Openreach division was ordered to open up its dark fibre network to competitors to allow operators to have physical access to the former state monopoly’s fibre-opticcables, thereby giving them direct control of the connection.

We need to ensure that CityFibre and other fibre-optic infrastructure builders can invest against the background of a fair and balanced regulatory regime,” said the alt-net’s public affairs director, Mark Collins.

“We believe Ofcom is implementing poor and inconsistent regulation, and we have a duty to robustly contest its decisions and policies in the normal course of business—especially where they conflict with stimulating long-term investment in the critical digital infrastructure which the UK so badly needs.”

CityFibre, which trades on the City’s AIM market, has been pumping cash into its own fibre-optic infrastructure in an effort to compete with BT. But it claims that Ofcom is failing to put the right regulation in place to support investments from broadband rivals in the business market.

Full Content: Arstechnica

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