Ofcom is based on the issue of dark fiber

BT will not provide customers with closed-loop fiber - the ability to rent fiber-optic cables - forcing rivals to use BT services, such as 10 Gbps fiber-based Wavestream, when setting up their networks.

This means that Ofcom's latest proposals to allow the "virtual separation" of BT fiber, far from encouraging competition, could strengthen BT's position as the largest fiber network operator in the UK, according to David Harrington, the carrier of the regulatory affairs of the Association of Communication Administrators.

"There is a very real demand for dark fibers - for public and private enterprises - to interconnect sites and communication providers for recovery. BT will not supply it to protect its market from leased lines and Ofcom seems reluctant to take action, "he said.

Bill Murphy, general manager of BT's Next Generation Access program - part of BT's OpenTeat, Retail and Retail divisions - recently told Computer Weekly that BT will not provide dark fibers due to the experience of other network operators during the dot crash. com.

He said that many operators who provided dark fibers, which allows customers maximum freedom to configure and control their networks, were involved in the accident. Those who survived were those who restructured and provided services, he said.

Bill Murphy spoke in a follow-up interview after his comments at the Cumbria broadband conference hosted by local MP Rory Stewart last month.

Murphy said regulated infrastructure provider BT Openreach introduced competition in the form of access to 1,200 or more communications service providers when it entered an area. "It's not just BT Retail [that can provide services]," he said.

However, BT could be forced to supply closed fibers if the UK implements European Commission proposals for regulated network access products. They say: "Access applicants should be able to select the solution that best suits their requirements, whether it is closed fiber (and if relevant copper), Ethernet backhaul or channel access."

Meanwhile, BT's lack of availability to provide dark fibers means that others cannot offer products that do not depend on BT's value-added services at some point in their network dark fiber cost.

Ofcom proposes to allow Openreach freedom to price these services without regulation, provided that other BT divisions pay the same price as rival communications providers.

BT also said that it is willing to share its infrastructure, such as poles and pipes, with other network operators, provided that it allows BT access to their infrastructure.