The European Commission (EC) has approved a proposal from UK regulator Ofcom to deregulate the wholesale broadband market in some parts of the UK, covering around 65 percent of all UK homes and businesses. The proposal involves deregulating local exchanges with four or more actual or potential providers serving areas with more than 10,000 homes and businesses. This is the first time that an EU telecoms regulator has identified different broadband markets in different geographic areas with a country and proposed removing regulation in those geographic areas now characterised by effective competition. The EC notes that all areas deregulated will not necessarily follow the overall competition trend envisaged by Ofcom. It welcomes a commitment by Ofcom to carefully monitor the progress of competition in the areas where regulation is lifted and to conduct a further market review if competition does not develop as expected.
