Broadband battlelines drawn ahead of Ofcom review

Openreach urges regulator to blow open Virgin Media 02's network

The CEO of Openreach has urged Ofcom to give rivals open access to Virgin Media O2’s network, ahead of a major telecoms review.

The regulator is currently in the process of conducting a Telecoms Access Review that will lay down the rules for telecoms and broadband firms for the five years after April 2026. Openreach is using that opportunity to pressurise the regulator into forcing Virgin Media O2 to give rivals access to its ducts, potentially increasing competition in many areas of the country and avoiding the need to install ugly telegraph poles in some communities.

Under the current rules, Openreach is forced to offer access to its nationwide network of poles and ducts under a scheme called Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA), which is regulated by Ofcom. This means prices for access to the poles and ducts are capped by Ofcom and that Openreach must offer rivals the same access as it offers to BT/EE, part of the same group.

Openreach CEO Clive Selley argues it’s now time the same rules were applied to Virgin Media O2 and other fibre providers, such as CityFibre. “Ofcom and government should also require Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) and others to open up their duct and pole networks on the same transparent terms including price as Openreach’s duct and poles product,” he said in a statement.