British telecoms regulator Ofcom has announced that it has been notified of new fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) pricing arrangements – known as ‘Equinox 2’ – that Openreach intends to put in place from 1 April 2023. Announcing the development, the watchdog noted that under its wholesale fixed telecoms market review rules, Openreach – the network unit of BT Group – is required to notify it of certain offers 90 days before they come into effect. This requirement, Ofcom claims, allows it and the wider industry to assess the offer, with the regulator where necessary having the power to intervene to prevent such terms being introduced.
According to Ofcom, it will now consider whether the notified offer raises competition concerns requiring intervention and reach a provisional view. It has said it expects to publish a consultation on this provisional view by early February, to which stakeholders will have 30 days to respond.
For its part, Openreach has claimed that Equinox 2 will amend and supplement its original ‘Equinox Offer’ (the pricing schedule which became effective from 1 October 2021) by introducing new rental and connection discounts and certain new terms and conditions. According to the network operator: ‘In particular, Equinox 2 will provide additional commercial incentives to Communications Providers (CPs) in order to encourage the adoption of GEA-FTTP through the migration of existing copper end customers to GEA-FTTP.’