Broadband wars and why the customers always lose
WHY does 90 per cent of the population have access to superfast broadband under BT and Virgin (Mail)? The answer is clear: TalkTalk, Sky and Vodafone were all asked to tender for running in fibre across the UK but didn’t want to invest because it didn’t give them the fast returns they demanded. They certainly wouldn’t invest in outlying villages where the customer base was too small to give them the high profits they wanted. BT and Virgin have invested heavily in fibre with small returns up front as they see it as a longterm investment, not a quick win. TalkTalk wasn’t happy with the fibre introduction as it had invested a lot of money in exploiting the copper network and wanted to ensure it maximised its return on copper. It seemed to put the customer second and profit first. TalkTalk may deny this, but we need to ask how much it has invested in fibre in the past five years. As for complaints from Sky, just look at its TV monopoly. Anyone watching TV on any channel will have been subjected to continuous Sky adverts. This is part of the Murdoch machine which controls much of the media and almost everything we watch. Sky isn’t interested in what’s good for the people of the UK; it’s driven by making money and convincing its customers they should pay more for its services. BT, TalkTalk and Virgin are doing their utmost to increase their TV customer numbers compared with Sky, but are fighting a very dominant competitor. What is Ofcom doing about this? Because it looks like absolutely nothing. Yes, BT must show that Openreach is independent and treats all its customers the same. It has been doing this successfully under Ofcom guidelines for five years. So will the other companies who claim they’re being treated badly by Openreach put their money where their mouth is and help invest in giving the UK the best broadband in the world? I’m not confident they will. I believe they’re simply trying to discredit BT to gain a competitive advantage — and the customer will come second yet again. BRIAN STORER, Walmley, West Mids.