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Building Broadband Britain. David Edmonds Director General of Telecommunications. Oftel strategy. Focus of Oftel’s work is consumer Competition most likely to deliver consumer benefits Regulation necessary to encourage competition
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Building Broadband Britain David Edmonds Director General of Telecommunications
Oftel strategy • Focus of Oftel’s work is consumer • Competition most likely to deliver consumer benefits • Regulation necessary to encourage competition • But recognise too much regulation can deter investment and innovation
Broadband strategy: aims and objectives • Goal to achieve markets which are effectively competitive in absence of regulation • Promoting competition at all levels: infrastructure needed to deliver services; and provision of services • Delivering choice, quality, value for money in broadband access and services for consumers
Delivering broadband • BT’s wholesale DSL services - over 100 DSL service providers • local loop unbundling • broadband interconnection • cable modems • leased lines • 3G, satellite, broadband fixed wireless access • means UK has one of the widest range of choice for broadband services in Europe
BT’s IP Network IPStream Local Exchange BT’s ATM Network DataStream & VideoStream DSLAM Wholesale Products Local Loop Unbundling ATM Interconnection (First Switch) ATM Interconnection (Distant Switch) Interconnection Products Competition over BT’s DSL network
Availability: how are we doing? • 60% of UK consumers & business within DSL enabled exchange areas. • Cable networks pass nearly 50% of UK households - cable modem services available to around 38% of all households • Digital TV offers one-way broadband - available to 99% households. Two-way satellite developing, although still relatively expensive • LLU available to meet demand. All exchanges open to competing operators • Leased lines (symmetric broadband) available throughout country.
Take-up: Growth of UK Broadband connections, Dec 2000 to Dec 2001 Total broadband customers 335,000 Total cable customers 196,000 Total DSL customers 139,000
Take-up: DSL connections since launch • UK DSL take up in line with take up in other countries at a similar stage of deployment
The narrowband experience • UK has one of EU’s most advanced markets in Internet access with numerous service providers • Both flat-rate and metered available at some of the lowest prices in the world • Unmetered availability may have delayed take-up of broadband • But also provides migration path to broadband
Broadband pricing - residential Kbit/s 60 1,000 • UK cable modem prices close to cheapest - but DSL expensive 50 800 40 all 600 £pm 30 DSL only 400 Bandwidth 20 200 10 0 0 Sweden UK US Germany France
Broadband pricing - SME 350 • UK prices broadly in line with elsewhere - wider range of services seen in Germany / US 300 Bandwidth 250 Low 200 £pm medium 150 high 100 50 0 Sweden US Germany UK France
Competition plus other initiatives • Work on broadband backed up with detailed research - regular benchmarking studies • Consumer awareness also important - Oftel study into consumer attitudes to Internet use/broadband • Supporting Government in projects to wire schools/libraries & remote regions
Conclusion • Oftel’s objective is competition at all levels of value chain. Beginning to show results. • Roll-out later than other countries, but catching up. Take-up increasing significantly but still early days. • Regulatory framework in place to support further development, but Broadband not just a task for regulators and Government • Industry and consumers will play greatest role in determining future of Broadband Britain