MadJim

Tonbridge

IS Manager

Karen may be right, but not. in my opinion, for the reasons she states. Openreach, OR, operate on a cost plus basis. Ofcom does not insist that OR make no profit, they insist that they do not make excess profit and that they deal with all their customers, which now includes BT Wholesale, on an equal footing. What makes the justification for full fibre to the home provision difficult to justify is the sheer cost of deployment (not to mention disruption) which would have to be recovered over a period in excess of 15 to 20 years in a market where a 3 year horizon is considered ambitious. Looking back at 2000 - 2002, where there was initially massive investment in fibre core networks followed by massive market uncertainty and huge losses - it's not surprising todays operators prefer not to be caught with their financial pants around their ankles.