Ofcom plans to regulate ultra-fast fibre broadband leased lines

Ofcom has announced plans to regulate ultra-fast fibre optic broadband services delivering speeds of more than 1Gbps.

BT is believed to have "significant" power in this relatively new market, the telecoms industry watchdog explained, prompting the need for regulation of wholesale leased lines capable of offering these speeds.

While Ofcom said the telecoms giant enjoys a dominant position in this market across virtually the whole of the UK, it stressed that this is not the case in London and Hull.

Ofcom also unveiled several other proposals intended to ensure that the UK's fibre optic broadband networks are able to cope with the "explosive" growth in demand for bandwidth-hungry applications from businesses and consumers.

Other measures include deregulating the market for longer distance leased lines and implementing less strict regulation on BT's wholesale up to 1Gbps Ethernet prices in London.

BT is aiming to roll out fibre optic broadband infrastructure to two-thirds of the UK by the end of 2014.