Virgin raises concerns over rural competition

UK ministers and regulators were in danger of enabling BT to become the dominant provider of high-speed broadband infrastructure in rural areas, in a move that could stymie innovation and hurt consumers, Virgin Media has claimed.

Virgin Media is BT’s main competitor in the high-speed Internet access market in urban areas, but the cable television operator is concerned that its rival is set to become the only large-scale owner of superfast broadband infrastructure in the countryside. Neil Berkett, Virgin Media’s chief executive, raised concerns that BT would secure the lion’s share of public funds available for part-financing high-speed networks based on fibre optic cables in rural areas because of the way the government is distributing the money. He also expressed doubts that BT and its rivals would be able to reach agreement on the financial terms under which they would gain access to the former fixed-line phone monopoly’s underground ducts, so as to lay fibre optic cables inside them.