UK fibrecos gasping for air as Openreach discounts ‘take oxygen out of the system’

Joe Purnell2026-09-16T11:35:00

Source: Openreach

In-depth: Openreach’s wholesale discounting strategy has become the latest battleground in the UK fibre wars, with altnet leaders urging Ofcom to intervene more aggressively while the incumbent insists it is simply competing on price.

This article includes:

Themes: Altnet competition; Broadband pricing; Fibre competition; Fibre migration; Fibre take-up; Full-fibre adoption (FTTP); Incumbent advantage; Infrastructure competition; Market share; Pricing discounts; Regulatory intervention; Regulatory certainty; Telecommunications regulation; Telecoms Access Review (TAR); Wholesale broadband; Wholesale competition.
Events: Connected Britain 2026.
People: Daren Baythorpe; Giles Rowbotham; James Tickel; Katie Milligan; Natalie Black; Rajiv Datta; Richard Allwood; Simon Holden.
Geographic: United Kingdom (UK).
Organisations: ITS; CityFibre; Connected Britain; Financial Times; nexfibre; Ofcom; Openreach; Virgin Media O2 (VM O2).

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