BT finally opens up its world

It's what the wired world has been craving for years: BT's stranglehold on the UK's telephone network has been well and truly broken, paving the way for sustainable unmetered internet access for all.

Just a couple of days ahead of receiving a proper dressing down before the Trade and Industry Select Committee over his consistent inaction, David Edmunds, head of regulator Oftel, instructed BT to turn the Friaco (Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination) scheme into something more workable for internet service providers (ISPs).

Friaco was introduced by BT earlier this year, ostensibly to provide ISPs with a fixed-fee method of providing subscribers with unmetered web access. In truth, however, the charging structure turned out quite differently.

A number of high-profile operators, like LineOne and Freeserve, began offering unmetered internet access deals, but the realisation soon dawned that ISPs would end up footing the bill for much of subscribers' online time. As a result of this, the flat-rate business models fell apart.

But from 1 February 2001, BT will be required to offer ISPs full access to all parts of its network, meaning they will be charged a flat rate for the entire journey of all internet calls, and not just between subscriber house and exchange as before.

Expect a host of new unmetered web access deals to spring up again soon - and this time you should be able to expect them to last.

See also:

Oftel acts on unmetered web access

BT asked to offer metered payment terms for unmetered access  28 Jan 2002

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