CityFibre and Virgin Media have criticised proposals by Ofcom to allow third-party providers to use BT's dark fibre network, saying it goes against the pro-investment and pro-competition environments the telecoms industry needs to be fair.
Ofcom's proposals means those using BT's dark fibre network would be more competitive, by allowing companies such as TalkTalk and Sky to obtain a wider service reach, but members of the Infrastructure Investors Group (IIG) including CityFibre and Virgin Media think this would not benefit the players who access Opeanreach's infrastructure independently to provide services, because it would add an additional layer of regulation for BT.
However, Ofcom has argued that the proposals will promote competition in the sector in its Business Connectivity Market Review (BCMR), while also offering better value for money to customers, which it acts on behalf of as its primary concern.
"The current regulatory environment today is supportive of competition and investment. The progress of CityFibre and IIG members is demonstrating this. So the debate is about where further regulatory intervention is required," said Mark Collins, director of strategy and public policy at CityFibre.
"The BCMR proposes additional layers of regulation on BT, in particular at the passive networks for dark fibre. The IIG members feel is this additional layer of regulation is not justified and that Ofcom [has] not undertaken sufficient analysis before making [its] proposals."
He added that the IIG members feel the additional layer of regulation proposed by Ofcom is not needed and the regulatory body failed to analyse the impact before submitting their proposals.
BT also said it is opposed to the extra regulation, saying it will favour the big players, rather than the smaller companies.
Openreach said in May: "Mandating dark fibre risks favouring a few companies that have the greatest capability to deploy it, to the disadvantage of all other firms. It will undermine investment - as a number of service providers have warned - and it would also increase costs, divert resources and add more complexity just when we're beginning to make progress on improving service."
