Please complete this form in full and return to 080review@ofcom.org.uk.
| Consultation title | Approach to high excess costs under the broadband universal service |
| Full name | steve kerr |
| Contact phone number | 07710 302627 |
| Representing (delete as appropriate) | Self / Organisation |
| Organisation name | Federation of Communication Services |
| Email address | skerr@fcs.org.uk |
Confidentiality
We ask for your contact details along with your response so that we can engage with you on this
consultation. For further information about how Ofcom handles your personal information and your
corresponding rights, see Ofcom’s General Privacy Statement.
| Your details: We will keep your contact number and email address confidential. Is there anything else you want to keep confidential? Delete as appropriate. | Nothing |
| Your response: Please indicate how much of your response you want to keep confidential. Delete as appropriate. | None |
| For confidential responses, can Ofcom publish a reference to the contents of your response? | Yes |
Your response
| Question 1: Do you agree with our proposal to amend the treatment of excess costs in determining eligibility for a USO connection, where excess costs are above £5,000? Please set out your reasons and supporting evidence for your response. |
Confidential? – N FCS has concerns that even though reasonable broadband is now classified as an essential service, under these Ofcom proposals there will be some people who cannot afford it and will therefore be excluded and disadvantaged. If the £5k threshold is for fibre connectivity, FCS believes 4/5G or mixed technology could be utilised to reduce this cost. FCS also believes that the access infrastructure under this USO (fibre or wireless) should be provided and managed by Openreach as ‘open access’, thereby providing the wider industry the opportunity to provide competitive broadband service to the customers who currently would be unable to afford it. |