"If it ain't broke, don't fix it": Openreach boss says 'no case' for broadband regulation changes to help rivals

Clive Selley, CEO of Openreach, told The Yorkshire Post that he anticipates Ofcom publishing its main consultation on proposals for changes to regulation this month.

He said Openreach’s view is the current system is working well and no major changes are required. Openreach, which is owned by BT, is currently rolling out ultrafast full fibre broadband to millions of homes and businesses in the UK. It is considered the incumbent in the UK’s broadband market with its networks used by more than 650 service providers including the likes of Sky and TalkTalk.

Last year, Ofcom said a key focus of the new review will be promoting sustainable network competition and whether any rule changes are required.

It said: “We are mindful that it takes time for competitors to become established after a network is deployed, and that they face considerable challenges overcoming the incumbency advantages of Openreach. In considering any remedies in this review, we will also need to make sure that they do not lead to costs for consumers that are not offset by the benefits we expect to develop in the longer term.”

But Ofcom also said its current rules have been designed to encourage BT’s competitors to build their own networks while also promoting investment by Openreach in areas where there is unlikely to be sustainable competition.

‘Remedies’ under the current system, which came into force in 2021, included requiring Openreach to provide access to its poles and ducts to competitors and preventing Openreach from using wholesale pricing structures to deter new network build by competing operators.

According to the most recent State of UK Broadband Report from think broadband based on figures from July, Openreach has a 46 per cent market share for full fibre coverage.

Mr Selley said the figures show Openreach is “not dominant”.

"There is no case for changes to the current regulation quite frankly,” he said.

Mr Selley added: "I know regulators in general come in for a fair amount of criticism. When it comes to fixed line telecommunications, the current regulatory instrument has been very successful.

"Not just Openreach but about 100 other companies in the UK are building fibre and telecoms infrastructure at a pace that exceeds the pace of deployment anywhere else in Europe. We will outturn at 4.3m homes passed in the build this year and I know the others will have done millions of homes in addition to that.

"The state of regulation is clearly encouraging very large scale investment in a broadband upgrade for the whole of the UK. It is a case of ‘what’s not to like’? So my ask is for stability of regulation. In 2021, they put together an environment that is pro-investment, pro-competition and it has played out very nicely.

"This week I will be moving 50,000 customers from copper broadband to fibre broadband and every week we are doing slightly more. The Government are trying their best to pump growth into this country and it is clearly the case that improved digital communications is an enabler to growth.”

He said recent research, conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research and Stantec, has estimated that Openreach’s full fibre rollout could add £66 billion to the UK economy by 2029. "That being the case, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”