British telecoms regulator Ofcom has confirmed that, having completed an initial information gathering process, it has decided to proceed to the provisional decision phase of an investigation into BT’s compliance with its obligations as a broadband universal service provider.
BT has been designated as a universal service provider, and as such is subject to regulatory conditions which set out how it must provider broadband universal service obligation (USO) connections to eligible consumers. In October 2020 Ofcom announced it had opened an investigation amid concerns that ‘BT may not be complying with the regulatory conditions correctly where it assesses excess costs for a given connection’. Specifically, the regulator suggested at that date the situation could result in some customers’ quote for a connection being higher than necessary.
Now, Ofcom has confirmed that it has moved to the next phase of the investigation, saying it will continue to gather additional evidence, while it expects to provide a further update on the matter ‘by the end of March’.