The Broadband Industry Group (BIG) urged the government to do more to encourage competition in the sector, in a statement published on Friday.
"The broadband market in the UK remains stifled by a lack of competition at the wholesale level where BT retains a monopolistic 99 percent share in DSL, the leading technology," said BIG, which is made up of Brightview, Cable & Wireless, Centrica, Energis, Freeserve and Tiscali.
"Unless a genuinely competitive market is created, alternative broadband providers, consumers, businesses and the UK economy as a whole will miss out on the benefits of broadband."
BIG was responding to comments made by e-commerce minister Stephen Timms earlier this week, when he told the Financial Times that tougher targets might be needed to encourage businesses to take up high-speed Internet services.
Timms's comments showed that the government is beginning to plan its strategy for the next five or six years.
According to BIG, a key part of that process will be increased competition, with BT losing some market share to other telecoms operators -- such as BIG's members.
BT, though, rejects BIG's claim that Broadband Britain is being stifled by a lack of competition.
"It seems incredible that they have ignored the fact there are more than one and a half million cable subscribers," said a BT spokesman, adding that there are "literally dozens" of ISPs reselling its own ADSL services.
"The UK really is one of the most, if not the most, competitive broadband markets in the world."
Talkback
Our problem is that although we are only a couple of miles outside Chichester - where the exchange is enabled - the old phone cables (many up poles in the air!) meander here and there and we find we are too far frm the exchange and thre is to much noise on the line. We had Broaband for 3 months last year but it kept cutting out and finally Bt cut it off. There seems no prospect of getting it back - the exchange is already enabled and BT don't seem t provide a forum for peolpe like usto put pressure on!
My fried lives in Sweden and has a 10MB (up and down) connection for 35 euros a month. Now try and tell us this is the most competitive market BT....
I beleive that the United Kingdom still has to achive more. In places like France and Germany you can get 2048 adsl connections for only £25 (E40). I beleive that it is wrong to say that the uk remains one of the countries with the most competetive broadband offers. Yes companies are offering add-on services but people dont want the extra features but a cheaper price. This is largely based on BT's influence.
Competition? hmm. yeah, ever tried to get the low speed broadband, only to be told, sorry, but only the full speed or above services are offered from your exchange? How about, ever been told your too far from the exchange for dsl ? Or told that the fastest link you can have is 512kbps due to line noise.. great now, but in 5yrs will 512kbps still be enough ? Ever tried to get cable to be told your area isnt covered by cable modems, and oops, cant get satellite broadband as can only have 1 dish without planning permission, not to mention the costs of satellite compared to cable or dsl.. Ever noticed that the price you pay for a 512bps 'always on' service might have a 'cap' on the amount of data you are allowed to transfer, (1gb on the new bt service, exceedable by just attempting to download 2 linux cds!!).. Ever tried to get dsl supplied by anyone other than bt ? (not a reseller..) unless you live in hull, or central london.. target rich zones where anyone other than bt can achieve a customer density sufficient to make adding stuff to an exchange less of a gamble...
So essentially, if you can get dsl, theres a 99% chance you will be subject to bt's network.. oh joy </sarcasm>
Todays broadband is just the start of whats to come, finally making better content possible, yet todays broadband providers are intent on aiming at cherry picking the field, to find the people who'll use broadband to view 2 websites, and read email.. caps on data transferred, refusal to correct cabling issues to allow greater speeds, port throttling.. if you buy a 1" pipe.. you expect to be able to put so much water down it.. not to find out that someones crimped it just round the corner.. Since when did a telco start telling you 'umm you cant discuss badgers, aircraft, or fruit on your telephone, and you mustnt speak faster than 10 words per minute, or attempt to make more than 5 hours of calls a month'
Some sympathy with BT and a bit annoyed with Cable & Wireless letter in Financial Times on 26-March.
We switched from BT to C&W in 1999 because second line cost £4 instead of £140 and they promised broadband cable modem in three months. Recent correspondence with ntl, who took over the franchise for our area of London's Docklands, E6 & E16, implies we could wait another three years for ntl broadband! They are just half way through rolling out an update of the old network they inherited. Apart from blaming their predecessor, the full details in their letters are depressing both for broadband competition in our part of London and as a picture of ntl management and their business plan when they took over from Cable & Wireless.
It’s time to stop the strangle hold of BT on us the poor public. A monopoly? Yes most definitely.
How can the government not react to this? In my opinion broadband should be the cheapest form of internet communication.
Not the most expensive.
Surprise, surprise, bt monopolise the broadband market. It happens to every single british consumer market, just compare prices and services available in Britian to those on the continent. We're being handed a sub-standard and overpriced service, and they have the gaul to claim it's the most competitive. Oftel needs bigger teeth and to get some balls to deal with this sort of nonsense.
BT is dragging its feet and has given us a provisional date of next year - just enough to make wireless not viable, but not enough to give us confidence that they will deliver a service.
If this is not anti-competitive, I don't know what is
What kind of tobacco are these guys smokin?...they must be growin it themselves. "The UK really is one of the most, if not the most, competitive broadband markets in the world." give your heasd a shake... BT is blowing smoke... I don't think so... Canadians pay about $15 ($35/month) pounds for over 1.5mbps ...here both cable and DSL agressively compete against each other offering cut rate deals and generally good service...which generally includes free installation and bundled packages. They offer that in GB? I don't think so....
I live in Boxgrove, near chichester, and we're also too far from the exchange - plus there is no cable anywhere even close in the area. I could work part-time from home if I had a decent connection instead of chocking up the M27 every day. What BT needs to do is to make broadband available for everyone - if it does that it should be allowed to retain its position, if not then someone else who can should do it. Why should rural communities be so disadvantaged
BT is a big 'White Elephant (I had to deal with them for around 10 years until very recently).
Unfortunately the rest of the industry who have employed many Ex BT staff, have taken on a corporate attitude similar to BT's. They give bad advise and bad, and expensive service. It amazes me that 1Mb and faster
lines in the UK are 10 times more expesive than the USA and even three times more expensive than Germany. The regulator OFTEL
is a joke!! The Government just needs to
sort it out, but there again, they are in the Palace of Westminster. (All who enter here
are lost forever!!!)
It is just another example or the death of an empire??
I too live in Chichester and have been enduring the same rubbish for the last few years. The good news is that I’m told that on September the 6th (2004), BT’s broadband reach will be extended from 6 kilometres is to 12 kilometres. This puts me in reach of the Chi exchange. This might also work for others. Can someone tell me if it's true and when we can expect to have the service?
I have Broadband now. Yipee.