Ofcom ready to set wholesale infrastructure access costs

Ofcom could intervene to set the price BT can charge rivals for access to its infrastructure for building high-speed broadband networks, the Financial Times reports. Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards told MPs on 03 May that a commercial agreement being reached by BT and its rivals was 'unlikely'. He added that if they failed to reach an agreement by June, then Ofcom could step in and set the wholesale fees for access to BT's telegraph poles and underground ducts. Five companies led by Fujitsu have recently written to communications minister Ed Vaizey asking the government to intervene to make BT set lower charges. They claim that BT's proposed charges for these new wholesale products are 4-5 times more than their underlying costs. Fujitsu recently announced plans to build a GBP 2 billion broadband network connecting 5 million rural UK homes. However, this project is dependent on agreeing a sensible wholesale agreement with BT.