Ofcom Orders Openreach to Withdraw New‑Customer Discount Offer

Overview

• Ofcom directed Openreach to withdraw the 'Incremental New to Openreach' offer on Monday, saying its proposed discount of up to £9.50 per customer for up to 30 months was not fair and could harm competition.
• The regulator found the deal targeted only new customers in a way that smaller rival networks could not match while still recovering their costs, risking long‑term consumer harm from weaker wholesale competition.
• Openreach said it put the offer forward in good faith, will review Ofcom’s decision and will roll out other, smaller commercial offers that the regulator did not block.
• Rival altnets and industry backers welcomed Ofcom’s move and linked it to wider market questions about consolidation and the CMA’s ongoing Phase Two probe into Nexfibre’s acquisition of Netomia.
• The decision matters because roughly half of households with access to full fibre have yet to sign up, and regulators say protecting altnets’ ability to win customers is central to creating sustainable, price‑competitive broadband choices for consumers.