BT Americas chief calls for more regulation of AT&T, Verizon

The president of BT Americas has called for more price regulation in the US on access to the networks AT&T and Verizon. In an interview with the Financial Times, Bas Burger said the lack of regulated prices for access to the two main networks in the US was hampering BT's ability to compete. "For a western world country it is the worst I've seen," he said. 

Burger said more regulation was needed to ensure competition, as AT&T and Verizon had "divided the country among themselves" when it comes to the access network to end-users. As a result BT is forced to pass on the customers the high prices for accessing the networks of the two dominant operators. The executive pointed to research suggesting that Verizon and AT&T may be overcharging for access to their special access network as much as USD 9 billion a year.

Burger would also like to receive AT&T and Verizon required to provide a certain standard of service to wholesale customers. Currently they are not obliged to repair network faults within a certain period of time. Burger said that as a result some BT customers that work with the UK-based operator everywhere else in the world were opting for AT&T and Verizon in the US.