British telecoms regulator Ofcom has announced that it requires further time to make a final decision regarding Openreach’s proposed fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) pricing offer, known as ‘Equinox 2’.
A consultation regarding Openreach’s pricing plans closed earlier this month, while Ofcom had initially indicated that a final decision would be published by the end of March 2023. Now, however, after receiving what it said were ‘a number of detailed and extensive responses’, it said some of these had raised issues which require further assessment. According to Ofcom: ‘In order to assess these issues properly, we intend to gather and analyse some additional information. It will not be possible to do this before the end of March.’ As such, Ofcom anticipates it will take an additional two months to undertake the further work and issue its final decision.
Meanwhile, with the Equinox 2 offer scheduled to launch on 1 April 2023, Ofcom is of the view that in order to ‘provide certainty and stability for industry’, it would not be appropriate for the offer to be introduced until after it issues its final decision. To that end, the watchdog is considering issuing a Direction to Openreach, using its powers under the Communications Act 2003 to achieve this, unless Openreach voluntarily defers the launch of the offer.