Watchdog extends broadband consultation

The Office of Communications (Ofcom) has announced that the consultation period for its review of the wholesale broadband market has been extended.

The new deadline for responses from stakeholders is 5pm on February 14th, the regulator confirmed.

Ofcom launched the review to ensure that rules governing the wholesale market, where individual providers buy the building blocks for their own services, are suitably designed to encourage national competition.

In particular, the review will look at how regulations can ensure consumers and businesses in remote areas can be guaranteed a choice of service providers.

The UK currently has 14.5 million broadband connections, which are run using local load unbundling (LLU). However, because LLU is not financially viable in some remote areas, some consumers face a limited choice of providers.

Ofcom says encouraging competition between networks built on LLU, rather than those using wholesale broadband products, is therefore crucial to the continuing development of broadband in the UK.

Responses to the consultation can be submitted online or by email and post.

Ofcom is responsible for overseeing the content and infrastructure of communications in the UK, including television, radio, online and telecommunications.