On 12 March 2012, Ofcom published a statement setting out its approach to regulating Openreach’s prices for wholesale ISDN30 services, a product that provides up to 30 digital telephone lines for businesses. Ofcom proposes the application of an RPI-X charge control from 2010/11 to the end of 2013/2014, with an X set at 13.75% applying to a main basket of rental and connection services. In proposing the control, Ofcom has also suggested a number of adjustments to Openreach’s base year costs. Ofcom’s review launched in August 2010; this latest statement has been submitted to the European Commission, which has one month to review the draft during which time it can comment on the proposal and/or initiate further examination.
DotEcon has provided economic advice to Openreach at various points through the course of the ISDN30 review. For example, DotEcon provided a report that was submitted to Ofcom in relation to the measurement of profitability and the formulation of an appropriate regulatory response where an end of life product such as ISDN30 is on the cusp of being superseded by a new generation.