UK regulator not opposed to BT’s wholesale fibre offer

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s telecoms regulator said it was not minded to stop BT introducing a new wholesale fibre offer designed to encourage broadband providers like Sky and TalkTalk to move customer from slow copper to ultrafast fibre connections.

Rivals including Virgin Media O2 wanted Ofcom to ensure BT’s offer, called Equinox 2, was not an abuse of its dominance in the market.

“We consider the offer is not anti-competitive and isconsistent with the rules we consulted on before introducing them under our market review in 2021,” Ofcom said.

The regulator said it had invited responses to its consultation on the offer before it publishes a final decision by the end of March.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by William James)

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