Ofcom has today proposed new controls that will “lead to [a] real-terms price reduction” of BTWholesale’s Leased Line services, which are used by businesses, mobile operators and broadband ISPs around the UK. The move is part of the regulators wider review (detailed here) into the country’s £2bn market for business telecoms.
As part of that review Ofcom has pledged to maintain most of its existing regulatory remedies against BT and even proposed softer regulation for their London-based services. But outside of London BT was found to have Significant Market Power (SMP) in the “relatively new market” for very high-bandwidth wholesale leased line services (1Gbps+) and was warned to expect tighter controls.
The consultation published today identifies the proposed level for these price controls, which mainly relate to BTWholesale’s legacy leased lines using Traditional Interface (TI) technology, and newer telecoms lines based on the faster Ethernet standard. As usual Ofcom is proposing overall caps linked to inflation (measured under the retail price index [RPI]), which it claims will “align the prices of these BT products with their cost by 2015” and “provides an incentive for BT to make efficiency gains“.
Ofcom’s Proposed Controls
* For BT’s TI services, Ofcom is proposing an overall basket cap of between RPI + 0% and RPI + 6.5%, with a central estimate of RPI + 3.25%.
* For BT’s Ethernet services, we are proposing an overall basket cap of between RPI – 8% and RPI – 16%, with a central estimate of RPI – 12%.
In addition the regulator has proposed a safeguard cap that will apply to low-bandwidth Ethernet lines in most of London, where BT faces greater competition from other ISPs. This will apparently ensure that “no prices can rise over the three-year period“.
Ofcom Statement
“We consider that these charge controls proposals are sufficient to constrain BT’s pricing. They will provide incentives to make efficiency improvements and are appropriate for achieving the other objectives pursued. We are therefore not proposing to impose a cost orientation obligation in addition to these charge controls.”
The consultation itself will remain open for views until 30th August 2012.
Ofcom’s Leased Lines Charge Control Consultation
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/llcc-2012/
UPDATE 6th June 2012
A BT spokesperson has said that the operator has “concerns” with Ofcom’s proposal to lower its prices for 1Gbps+ lines outside of the London area. The operator now intends to challenge the regulators assumption, which is to be expected. It’s worth remembering that BT has a history of putting up prices in other areas when it’s forced to lower them elsewhere.
UPDATE 6th June 2012 – 1:16pm
In relation to this BTOpenreach has provided commitments to Ofcom to implement price reductions on its 1Gbps services that will apply for the period from 1st October 2012 to 31st March 2013 (or until a new Ofcom LLCC charge control is set, whichever is sooner). The cuts range from -8% to -45% and have been detailed at the link below.
http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/home/updates/briefings/…./eth03412.do
Shopping centre extension proposals are in the bag - scotsman.com
A HUGE expansion of the Cameron Toll shopping centre which will see a five-screen cinema, six new restaurants, a major new store and a rooftop terrace has been given the go-ahead.
The £25 million scheme will also include ten new retail units with the development expected to create 500 jobs and take 18 months to complete.
Councillors backed the application last year, but full approval was finally granted this week as negotiations continued regarding planning conditions.
Centre manager Jim Riddell welcomed the news.
He said: “The granting of planning consent for the proposed new extension to Cameron Toll marks an exciting new chapter in the history of the centre.
“Cameron Toll has been an important shopping destination in Edinburgh for the last 25 years and the addition of a new cinema, restaurants, retail and a major retail anchor will extend and enhance our appeal across a wide area.”
The city council’s economic development convener, Tom Buchanan, said: “This new extension will bring many benefits to the local area, creating a number of much-needed jobs and boosting the city’s economy, as well as enhancing leisure opportunities.
“That part of Edinburgh has missed out in recent years in terms of cinema provision, so I’m sure that element of the development will be welcomed.”
The extension will be sited on car park at the southern end of the shopping centre.
John Bury, the council’s head of planning, said: “The mix of retail, restaurant and cinema uses represents a positive contribution to the area in line with the aim of improving the quality of the offer at the centre.”
Last year, critics of the plan warned that it would lead to increased traffic problems and loss of views to Arthur’s Seat because of its height.
The Craigmillar Park Association also raised concerns about any extension to opening hours due to the cinema.
St James Centre owner Henderson Global Investors also objected.
The centre, which opened in 1984, was bought by Irish investment fund Warren Private for £80m in 2008.
The application also includes the creation of a pedestrian link from Liberton Road, as well as additional parking, including a car p
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Print this pageWholesale Scout Launches New Resource for Wholesale Buyers - YAHOO!
Wholesale Scout, the online wholesale directory, has launched a new brand spotlight section to their website which should see resellers gaining some new wholesale product ideas
London, United Kingdom (PRWEB) July 05, 2012
Wholesale Scout, the wholesale expert and online wholesale directory, has launched a brand new section of their website in a bid to further support the wholesale community.Wholesale Scout works with thousands of wholesale suppliers and wholesale buyers across the UK and through their extensive research into the industry, they have found that many buyers need more direction when it comes to product selection. And their new service, Brand Spotlight, aims to help buyers with their purchasing patterns.
Apart from using Google to source competitive wholesale products and visiting high street shops to see what products are selling, it can be very difficult for a wholesale buyer to identify popular brands and products. It is relatively simple to see that big brands and products, like the Apple iPad, sell incredibly quickly. However for small resellers it can be very difficult to turn a profit with products like these as competition from larger wholesale buyers makes it tough to secure competitive prices.
The team at Wholesale Scout have been working on a new advice section of their website called Brand Spotlight. The section, launched last week, is a monthly advice column based around popular wholesale brands. Each article will be based purely on one brand – focusing on their history, company information and popular products. Not only will this provide wholesale buyers with information on potentially lucrative products, but it will also release exclusive information on wholesale suppliers to its members.
The team see this as a valuable inclusion to their offering as feedback from hundreds of buyers suggests those dealing with competitive suppliers find the best wholesale prices and therefore the best margin on products. And with wholesale competition always increasing, buyers need to look out for the best deals if they want to increase profit.
Although it is time consuming at first to set up a wholesale business, once operating it is fairly easy to target customers and sell products – especially through the internet. Online sites like eBay allow buyers to advertise and sell products online at a low cost and without even having to set up their own eCommerce website. Social networking sites also present a free source of information and provide networking opportunities. So the number of buyers in the industry is always increasing. However, a wholesale business can only really grow if products are secured at the best wholesale rates.
If a retailer is small and un-established it can be difficult to negotiate prices and gain deals. However this is crucial to increasing sales and if buyers can build rapport with suppliers, negotiating is more likely to happen no matter the size of the wholesale business.
The new Brand Spotlight section of the website will provide these details to members so buyers can quickly find out about product trends and then start sourcing them immediately.
Recent Brand Spotlights include Samsung, manufacturer of popular electrical products like televisions, microwaves, mobile phones and digital cameras. The team at Wholesale Scout (http://www.wholesalescout.co.uk ) researched their history and product offering and brought this information along with supplier details to members. Instead of searching through hundreds of pages on the internet to find this information, buyers can find it at the click of a button.
The new section runs alongside the website’s other services including wholesale advice articles, wholesale news and video content.
About the Author:
Wholesale Scout is an online wholesale directory offering its members wholesale business support and access to thousands of wholesale suppliers.
Hayley Stovold
Wholesale Scout
020 8123 6898
Email Information
Comments
There are 9 comments to this article
#3 - "Fort Kinnaird is a much better higher-class shopping centre and always will be..." How can anybody suggest that these dreary shopping sheds have 'class'? Consumerist hellholes, every one of them.
#2, good idea, then we'll see how grumpy the bus drivers and other passengers get when everyone gets on with 5 or 6 bags of groceries, then has to walk home from the bus stop in the p155ing rain lugging it all. Not everyone lives on a main bus route!
So many doomsday prophets! Infact lets just knock it down, build flats and be done with it.
Why extend the centre to house more empty units and Pound shops. As for the Cinema what idiot thinks there is a demand for a five screen cinema - future News article about cinema closing !
I'll believe it when I see it. Whatever this city does, it will still languish at the bottom of the league table of UK shopping destinations. Sorry.
Perhaps the shops there could consider staying open later than 6.00? There's a big Sainsburys open late, but everything else is closed in the evening. Ridiculous.
"Cameron Toll has been an important shopping destination in Edinburgh for the last 25 years". So much so that most of he shops closed down, leaving little more than Savacentre, pound shops and mobile phone shops., Fort Kinnaird is a much better higher-class shopping centre and always will be...... if only it had somewhere other than Pizza Hut & McDonalds to get something to eat....... And '1 - the car park will be at the hardly used Straiton Park n Ride - No 37 or 47 bus to Cameron \Toll
Maybe the cars could be parked at home and the occupants could get any of the numerous buses which go past.
"The extension will be sited on car park at the southern end of the shopping centre." Nice one! Where's the car park going to be sited?
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