The UK’s £1.2bn rural broadband rollout programme has been ‘mismanaged’ by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which has offered telecom major BT a quasi-monopolistic position in the market, allege a committee of British MPs.
In the latest report from the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC), MPs also allege that the government’s rural broadband programme had also failed to deliver the required competition for contracts by awarding of all 26 contracts to BT.
Public Accounts Committee chairman Margaret Hodge said that the sole provider BT has been placed in a quasi-monopolistic position which it is exploiting by restricting access to cost and roll-out information.
"The consumer is failing to get the benefits of healthy competition and BT will end up owning assets created from £1.2 billion of public money," Hodge said.
"Overall, BT is supposed to provide at least 90% coverage in rural areas but it is preventing local authorities from publishing proper information on the areas the company will and will not cover.
"Details of speed and coverage in each local project are also being kept confidential, preventing other suppliers from developing schemes aimed at reaching the remaining 10% of premises and stopping communities and others from identifying alternative ways of providing superfast broadband."
BT has also been criticised of restricting access to cost and roll-out information such as where exactly it would launch superfast broadband services.
"We now have a situation where local authorities are contributing over £230 million more to the programme than forecast in the Department’s business case, while BT is committing over £200 million less," Hodge added.
"The lack of transparency over BT’s costs is a serious risk to value for money. Local authorities are prevented under the contract from sharing cost information which weakens their negotiating position with BT."
Earlier, BT had also been alleged of misleading customers by assuring the delivery of super-fast Infinity broadband in some areas and then reportedly failed in maintaining its timetable.
