Watchdog 'reassesses' broadband landscape

Oftel is taking a "step back" following criticisms of the local loop unbundling process and is canvassing the comms industry on the future of broadband roll out.

But analysts remain sceptical about the watchdog's ability to stand up to BT.

In a speech at The Economist's 13th annual communications conference, director general David Edmonds said: "We want to get a better idea of what their thinking is, in rolling out broadband services, to determine the likely trends over the next few years. This will help us to anticipate regulatory issues that may develop in the next few years."

Trevor Wood, network competition manager at Oftel, said meetings had begun, and should be completed by the end of February. "We wanted an idea of how they see the market developing. We're stepping back and taking a look before moving forwards," he said.

Mark Blowers, senior researcher at the Butler Group, said any feedback Oftel could get would be beneficial. "But you could argue they should have done it before." He added that the focus on end user pricing had diverted attention from issues like technical innovation.

Edmonds said the watchdog would also impress on BT the importance of offering reasonable terms and conditions for wholesale products. Oftel was forced to intervene last year when rival operators failed to agree SLA terms with BT for wholesale access to loops. "This would take some of the pain out of the industry," said Wood.

Such action would help Oftel identify potential problems between operators that would further slow the spread of broadband. "Getting information at an early stage will help us head off issues, but it certainly won't be foolproof."

Oftel statistics suggest Wood is correct. In the time since August 2000, when Oftel amended BT's licence to require it to offer access to local exchanges, the regulator has issued no fewer than 25 directives to resolve disputes between the incumbent and its rivals. Wood said the complexity of arguments Oftel is required to adjudicate on has also increased.

Tony Lock, senior analyst at Bloor Research, was unimpressed: "This looks like a euphemism for 'OK guys, we haven't done anything so far and we won't do so in the future'." Lock added that Oftel's intention to debrief large vendors on broadband was a bland statement. "My cat could do better."

But a spokesman for the Internet Service Providers Association welcomed the move. "Ultimately we hope the one-to-one consultations will bear swift and fruitful results as unbundling is crucial to the facilitation of competition and subsequent innovation."

Key Points

• Oftel will meet with UK broadband service and equipment suppliers to gauge future trends in roll out
  
• Price not the only concern, say industry analysts

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