Network access provider Openreach (BT) has just announced the second batch of annual price increases, albeit this time focused more on their wholesale Ethernet (EAD, EBD etc.), OSA, Excess Construction Charges (ECC), Dark Fibre and Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) products for UK ISPs, businesses and other networks.
Just to recap. Ofcom’s regulatory rules (example) allow Openreach to increase prices across their various products, which is usually closely aligned to the level of inflation, although this may differ between products due to various factors (discounts etc.) and there could also be some decreases. Some older products will also be withdrawn from sale next year (e.g. the ADVA FSP3000 volume discount 100+/200+/350+/750+ pricing).
NOTE: All of the price changes will take effect from 1st April 2024.
Once again, the prices changes are too numerous to easily summarise as they occur across masses of different products, but you can find more details by following the links on their Pricing Page. Just to give an example, the annual rental for an 1Gbps EAD circuit will increase from £2,100 to £2,262 – or from £2,664 to £2,850 when specifically used for FTTP (full fibre) aggregation.
However, it’s not all bad news, because Openreach have also announced the renewal of some existing, as well as the launch of new, special offers for EAD 1Gb and EAD 10Gb, commencing 1st April 2024 until 31st March 2025 (here).
