By Lisa Burroughes, 18 August 2000 00:25
NEWS ISPs have welcomed a move by Oftel to set a ceiling on the maximum amount BT can charge rival operators for access to the local loop. It emerged yesterday that ISPs will have to pay no more than £107 for each high-speed DSL line - and this figure may fall following further Oftel investigation. There will also be a one-off connection charge of £145. Initial feedback from operators has been positive. A spokesman from Uunet said: "We are encouraged that Oftel has clearly listened to what has been said by industry representatives. This is a very good basis to go from." A spokesman for Oftel claimed the prices are an absolute ceiling and it expects charges to reduce substantially. "This will come under the price control review that will see at least a four per cent decrease." He added: "How this is passed onto the customer will be up to the operator - in fact a large part of it could be absorbed by the operator and accounted for in advertising revenue." Oftel will now conduct a full analysis of how BT arrived at these charges to determine if they are acceptable - the results of which will be published in October. A final directive will be issued in December when the first operators will be given access to the local loop. Although the UK telecoms regulator has accepted these prices, it rejected a number of other proposals BT made for additional charges. ISPs and telcos are expected to give a more detailed response to the guidelines in the next few days.
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