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BT profits slammed following fibre broadband projects
A report by Vodafone and Frontier Economics has criticised the £5 billion excess profit made by BT since 2005.
The service provider's excess profit since 2005 has been recorded at £5 billion over the level recommended by Ofcom. The report from the two companies comes following concerns over whether the government's decision to award all the rollout contracts from its Broadband Delivery UK scheme to BT is breeding a lack of competition.
A Vodafone spokesperson called for Ofcom to be more proactive in controlling BT's activity, saying: "BT is holding the UK's digital future to ransom. It's time Ofcom prized open its stranglehold."
The report indicates BT would have to decrease its prices by around ten per cent in order to bring its profits down to a level in line with Ofcom's guidelines. All the products BT has gained the profit from are monitored by the regulator; however, it is yet to enforce any disciplinary action.
Other rival service providers have also backed the report, with TalkTalk calling for more stringent price ceilings in the fibre optic broadband market.