Regulatory action on the use of telegraph poles by the nation’s broadband service providers would seem an unlikely source of contention, but just as rural broadband network Fibrus has called on UK comms regulator Ofcom to rethink the pricing structure for accessing the network of ducts and poles owned by market leader Openreach, alternative network company (altnet) Brsk has been hit by a fine by Ofcom for installation failures.
Fibrus intends to bring full-fibre broadband to homes and businesses across the six counties of Ulster and believes that the Openreach’s pricing structure issues is slowing down the roll-out of rural broadband across Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
The firm regards full-fibre broadband as critical to the UK’s digital economy and closing the digital divide between rural and urban communities, yet it reports that just 52% of properties in rural areas have access to gigabit-capable broadband, compared with 87% in non-rural areas.
Fibrus added that access to Openreach’s ducts is currently calculated on a per metre basis, a protocol that it said disproportionately affects network build to rural areas where properties are, on average, 200m away from their nearest neighbour compared to just 20m in urban areas. This means, it said, that rural altnets are faced with costs of delivering broadband far in excess of those faced by urban providers.
The current model, said Fibrus co-founder and chair Conal Henry, is stifling investment, creating an uneven marketplace and making it harder for providers such as his to improve rural broadband infrastructure.
“The current model is broken and it’s having a real impact on rural communities across the UK who can’t access fast, reliable broadband,” he said. “The disproportionate impact these costs have on rural broadband providers is well-illustrated by the fact that Fibrus serves 0.3% of total UK broadband premises, but it contributes 18% of Openreach’s physical infrastructure access [PIA] income from wider industry – a staggering figure.
“This directly undermines the UK’s goal of nationwide fibre coverage and inhibits growth. Ofcom must deal with this issue in its current Telecoms Access Review [TAR] to have a transformational impact on the availability and cost of fibre broadband for rural Britain.”
As part of the TAR’s consultancy phase, Fibrus recommended Ofcom to explore a per-connected-premise national pricing approach. This, it said, would be would be consistent with is the approach used across the wholesale broadband market. Fibrus believes this could create a fairer payment system and ensure it and its competitors can roll out full-fibre broadband in hard-to-reach areas.
As such future action was being called for, Ofcom was issuing its fine on Brsk for actions taking place in the Birmingham area in 2022. In May that year, the provider contacted Birmingham City’s Highways Authority to let them know that it would be looking to roll out its fibre broadband in its local authority area. It advised the Highways Authority that it was due to commence building its network in the summer and explained that the Highways Authority should expect to receive necessary permit requests in the “not-too-distant future”.
On 29 June 2023, Brsk raised the first street works permit for the installation of five new telegraph poles on Tiverton Road, Selly Oak, which was approved by Birmingham City’s Highways Authority on 5 July 2023. On 30 April 2024, Birmingham City’s Local Planning Authority submitted a complaint to Ofcom which alleged that Brsk had installed a large number of broadband poles without giving the necessary 28-day notification.
After a series of investigations, Ofcom decided that there were “reasonable” grounds for believing that Brsk had contravened the requirements to consult with Birmingham City’s Local Planning Authority prior to installing electronic communications apparatus in the Birmingham City area and give Birmingham City’s Local Planning Authority 28 days’ written notice prior to installing certain electronic communications equipment in the Birmingham city area. The penalty for these breaches were fines totalling £20,000.
