The regulator said its provisional view is that it should not intervene to prevent Openreach from introducing Equinox 2, a new wholesale pricing arrangement for full fibre services.
Ofcom has said it considers the offer to be consistent with the rules it introduced under a market review in 2021.
An Ofcom spokesperson explained, “Our overriding objective is to bring faster, better broadband to people across the UK – promoting competition and investment in high-speed networks, and making sure there's a level playing field for all companies.
“With this in mind, we’ve assessed Openreach’s proposed new pricing plans and, based on the evidence available to us so far, we don’t consider them to be anti-competitive. We’ve set out our provisional reasons for this and are now seeking views from all interested parties, which we’ll take into account before making a final decision.”
Ofcom added that it is “alive” to concerns that Openreach’s practice of amending full fibre prices could act as a barrier to competitors’ entry and expansion in the market. For that reason, Ofcom is “gathering evidence” to decide whether it should “investigate this matter in more detail”.
Responses to Ofcom’s consultation should be submitted by 5pm on 4 March 2023. Ofcom will then decide how to proceed, with a final decision expected before the end of March 2023.