BSkyB attacks BT wholesale charge plan

UK pay-TV provider BSkyB has attacked plans by telco BT to charge more for wholesale access to its network, according to UK press reports.

Regulator Ofcom has indicated it might allow BT to charge wholesale customers an extra £0.04 (€0.04) per line as it seeks to make good its £9.4bn pension deficit. However Sky has said that the move would be “a reward for failure” and would depart from Ofcom’s practice of calculating wholesale prices based on forward-looking operational costs rather than historical expenditure, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

BT has responded by saying that it was appropriate to recover a share of pension deficit costs through regulated charges.
BT provides wholesale access to rival triple-play providers BSkyB and Carphone Warehouse, amongst others.