15 February 2008
The European Commission (EC) has given permission for the regulations to lapse following a review of competition among broadband wholesalers in the UK.
Following the review, regulator Ofcom said its final decision about scrapping regulations would come later in 2008.
The review revealed that in 64% of UK markets competition was fierce enough to prevent any broadband wholesaler winning a dominant position.
Ofcom currently imposes regulations on companies which offer wholesale broadband services that telecoms firms then re-sell to consumers for home Internet access. These regulations were first brought in to guard against former monopoly BT getting a stranglehold on the market and to encourage new entrants into the telecoms and net-access sector.
The Commission said in a statement that in many parts of Britain, BT faces competition from four or more other wholesalers who have installed their own equipment in telephone exchanges.
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