East Riding Liberal Democrats are calling on Ofcom to intervene in the row over telegraph poles, by holding an emergency Market Review in the Hull Telecoms Area, combined with a pause in build activity.

Spokesperson, Cllr. Phil Redshaw (Cottingham North) said “The remedies imposed as part of the 2021 Review are simply not fit for purpose. We are calling on Ofcom to take a proactive approach and introduce both transparency and effective regulation”.

The Hull Telecoms area is regulated very differently to Openreach in the rest of the UK, particularly regarding Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA).

KCOM’s competitors have to rely on the Access to Infrastructure (ATI) regulations, which are far too cumbersome to facilitate the rapid deployment of gigabit capable services.

MS3 and Connexin are therefore building their own separate infrastructure, with a triplication of last mile delivery apparatus, including telegraph poles and catenary wires.

A Market Review combined with a pause in build, should consider:

• Imposing a duty on telecoms companies to demonstrate reasonable efforts have been made to reach an agreement with KCOM for access to infrastructure.
• Compel KCOM to publish pricing for access to its infrastructure.
• In the event that no agreement is reached, oblige companies to pursue a formal Dispute via Ofcom, prior to installing further infrastructure of their own.