BT Accused of Stifling Competition by Broadband Network Rivals

BT Group Plc has been accused by smaller rivals of threatening competition in Britain’s broadband market, with one calling for a full breakup of the former state monopoly.

London-based BT owns the UK’s only national wholesale broadband network, Openreach. It also sells broadband through that infrastructure, a combination that raised competition concerns from Ofcom and led to Openreach being legally ring-fenced from its parent in 2017-18.

Openreach has proposed a new pricing structure for internet service providers to use its network, dubbed Equinox 2. Regulator Ofcom had provisionally approved the offer but last week it extended its review.

While big ...