Key facts
- Ofcom blocked Openreach's proposed pricing scheme for full fibre broadband lines.
- The regulator found the proposed charges "not fair and reasonable".
- Ofcom cited Openreach's Significant Market Power (SMP) as a reason for the decision.
- The blocked offer included a £35 connection rebate and an £9.50 monthly rental rebate for 18, 24, or 30 months.
- Ofcom stated the discounts were targeted at customers important to rival alternative networks (altnets).
- Openreach plans to withdraw the "Incremental New to Openreach Customer Offer".
Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, has blocked a proposed pricing scheme by Openreach, arguing that the offered discounts were not fair and reasonable. The decision, confirmed after a period of industry consultation, specifically targets Openreach's "Incremental New to Openreach Customer Offer" for its full fibre (FTTP) lines.
Openreach had notified ISPs and Ofcom in June 2026 of its intention to introduce new discounts aimed at attracting new customers and remaining competitive. While Ofcom found most of the proposed offers acceptable, it took exception to one that included a £35 connection rebate and an £9.50 monthly rental rebate for 18, 24, or 30 months. Ofcom's provisional ruling stated that Openreach, due to its Significant Market Power (SMP), was uniquely positioned to make such a targeted offer, which could harm the development of competition by making it difficult for rival networks to recover their costs.
Virgin Media O2 CEO Lutz Schüler had previously described a similar discount as a "serious threat to the emergence of long-term network competition." Openreach, however, countered that regulation should not protect "poor business models" in a competitive market.
In its final decision, Ofcom directed Openreach to withdraw the specific offer, while not intervening in other notified offers. BT Group is investing approximately £15 billion for Openreach to build full fibre lines to cover 25 million premises by December 2026, with an ambition to reach up to 30 million by 2030.