BT Openreach to cut cost of broadband infrastructure access

Openreach, BT's local access network division, has revealed that the price for access to its duct and pole network is likely to be lowered after Sky and Call Flow complete a three-month trial using the infrastructure.

Communications regulator Ofcom announced plans for Openreach to allow access to the network last October.

However, since BT announced pricing for access to the ducts and poles in January, it has come under fire for not making it commercially feasible for competitors.

Fujitsu piled on the pressure earlier this month when it said its plans to roll out a £5m fibre network to rural areas using BT's network was dependent on the telco's pricing coming down "substantially".

"This [Sky and Call Flow] trial will allow us to field-test the processes involved in allowing others to use our duct and pole infrastructure and build upon the accuracy of our assumptions before we launch the product commercially," said Fergus Crockett, Openreach product director.

"It will also provide our communication provider customers with far greater clarity around the details of deployment, and the likely costs involved, as well as giving them the chance to engage with us around pricing and process development."

Although Crockett did not make reference to any pricing decisions being made, a BT spokesperson told Computing that prices are likely to be reduced after the three-month trial is completed.

Commenting on the trials, a Fujitsu spokesperson said that the outcome was "irrelevant", and that the prices needed to be reduced significantly by Ofcom, regardless of what Sky and Call Flow achieve.