By Tim Richardson for The
Register.
This article has been reproduced with permission.
If the draft ruling is confirmed, Carphone will have to pay more
to migrate each customer to its new phone and broadband service
than it had hoped, adding to its overheads.
Like many aspects of local loop unbundling (LLU) (the process by
which operators install their kit in BT exchanges to provide
telecoms services direct to end users) the details surrounding the
row between Carphone and BT are complex.
Earlier this year, Opal Telecom (part of Carphone Warehouse)
called on Ofcom to resolve a dispute concerning the maximum charge
BT can make for the bulk migration of fully unbundled (MPF) and
shared access (SMPF) lines. Fully unbundled lines are where the LLU
operator, for example Bulldog, takes full control of a phone line
to a home or business providing both a broadband and phone
service.
Shared access is where the LLU operator provides the broadband
connection, but the phone service remains hooked up to BT's
network. In the case of both MPF and SMPF, the maximum amount BT is
allowed to charge operators for migrating individual lines in bulk
is £34.86 per line.
But in May last year BT Wholesale announced a special promo of
£20 per line for the mass migration of shared lines (SMPF). At the
time, ISPs such as AOL, Wanadoo and Tiscali had said they were
interested in migrating large numbers of users to shared LLU while
BT was keen to give LLU a chance to take-off.
No LLU operators at the time expressed an interest in the bulk
migration of fully unbundled lines. That is until last November
when Opal announced its intention to unbundle up to 1,000
exchanges. A month later, Carphone bought Onetel and Tele2, taking
its number of residential fixed line customers to around 2.5m.
Last month, Carphone announced details of a new product based on
fully unbundled lines that would provide a broadband service,
inclusive phone calls and line rental for just £20.99 a
month massively undercutting similar services from rivals.
Carphone is currently signing up customers and plans to start
migration onto its new LLU platform later in the summer.
But it wants to pay the promo price of £20 per line to migrate
its customers onto its LLU platform34.86. When it
failed to reach agreement with BT earlier this year it complained
to Ofcom claiming that the £20 SMPF offer should also be extended
to fully unbundled (MPF) lines. Not to do so was "discriminatory",
it said.
In its "draft determination" to try and resolve the dispute,
Ofcom has ruled that the maximum charge BT should impose for the
bulk migration of fully unbundled lines should be £29.06.
While it's cheaper than the original ceiling, it's still way off
the £20 fee for migrating shared lines currently being offered by
BT.
The draft ruling has now been thrown open for consultation until
the middle of May and a final decision is due early in June.
A spokeswoman for BT told us that the giant telco was
"considering the details of Ofcom's draft determination" and that
it would "respond within the legal deadline".
"We will continue to co-operate fully with Ofcom," she said.
"Openreach is fully committed to working with The Carphone
Warehouse and all of our customers to ensure that LLU is a
success."
No one at Carphone was available for comment at the time of
writing.
© The Register
2006
