Press Release: Telecoms: Commission approves OFCOM proposal to de-regulate part of UK broadband market

On 14 February, 2008, the Commission approved the proposal of the UK telecoms regulator Ofcom to de-regulate the wholesale broadband market in some parts of the UK, covering around 65% of all UK homes and businesses This was the first time that a national telecoms regulator in the EU has identified different broadband markets in different geographic areas within a country and proposed lifting regulation in those geographic areas now characterised by effective competition. The Commission supported Ofcom's proposal, which is based on detailed economic evidence, to deregulate local exchanges with four or more actual or potential providers serving areas with more than 10,000 homes and businesses. For the Commission, Ofcom's proposal represented a reasonable move towards better targeted regulation, concentrating on those geographic areas where structural competition problems persist.