Ofcom was right to block Openreach’s targeted £9.50 wholesale discount, but wrong if it thinks the ruling alone fixes Britain’s fibre take-up gap.
Regulators had to stop an incumbent from cherry-picking the marginal customers altnets need to reach scale. Allowing Openreach to subsidise only new lines would have forced Cityfibre, Gigaclear and others to match prices on build costs they still carry. Preservation of long-term competition justified the intervention.
The number that still matters
Industry briefings ahead of the decision noted that roughly half of households passed by full fibre had not subscribed. Wholesale promotions can nudge that ratio, yet they cannot substitute for simple retail propositions: predictable bills, quick installs and honest speed claims. Ofcom cleared other Openreach incentives that took effect on 1 October because they looked less predatory; consumers may see modest retail deals, but the pass-no-subscribe households remain.
What altnets should do next
Cityfibre and its ISP partners should treat the blocked discount as breathing room, not a victory lap. They must publish take-up by council area, pair marketing with social tariffs, and press Ofcom to police migration bottlenecks when customers switch away from legacy copper. Without transparent metrics, the next Openreach promotion will land before MPs notice.
What government should require
Ministers should bundle wholesale rulings with a public take-up dashboard and deadlines for switching off copper where fibre is live. Competition law can protect builders; only operational clarity converts passes into connections.
Ofcom’s precedent-setting block is necessary. It is not sufficient. Until take-up maths improve, Britain will keep subsidising networks with taxpayer patience instead of subscriptions.
Retail bundles obscure the wholesale fight
Households rarely see Openreach’s wholesale tariffs, yet they shape whether a second fibre builder can survive. When take-up stalls, altnets cannot amortise ducts and poles; when incumbents discount only the customers rivals need, the stall becomes permanent. Ofcom saw that dynamic clearly.
Politicians who celebrate gigabit availability maps should pair them with subscription maps. Without both, constituencies boast full fibre while flats still run on copper because nobody marketed a switch.
A constructive next step
Ofcom should publish an annual take-up scorecard by nation and by altnet, using data already reported in regulatory returns. City halls could then target switching campaigns where passes are high but subscriptions lag, instead of funding more trenches in already-served streets.
Wholesale neutrality is not consumer activism; it is infrastructure policy. The October ruling protects builders. Ministers must now protect subscribers.