Overview
- Ofcom keeps Physical Infrastructure Access in place, requiring Openreach to offer rivals duct and pole access at fair, cost‑based prices.
- Area 2 will have a flat, inflation‑linked basic superfast price, while Area 3 allows Openreach to recover reasonable rollout costs with new backstop service standards for repairs and installs.
- Wholesale price protections now cover products up to 80 Mbps, with higher‑speed tiers left unregulated to encourage network upgrades.
- Ofcom will progressively shift oversight from copper to fibre and is consulting on when to remove price protections on copper services during migration.
- The framework takes effect on 1 April 2026, with Ofcom projecting fibre could reach almost 29 million properties by 2027 and signaling it will retain safeguards to 2031 if effective wholesale competition has not emerged.