Karoo "Openess" for Business

[hullnet]

Well I for one am enjoying this new Open Karoo, its about time they engaged with the customers, bad feeling, discontent and mistrust is more prevalent bacause of the lack of information on what's happening in the local area.

Karoo on this forum, on Twitter telling us about investments is a step in the right direction! as well as actually talking to the users about personal broadband issues. Well done Karoo!

 

Keep it up!

[Adrian]

Indeed, a corner has been turned

[Project Novo]

BS baffles brains and deflects from the truth !!!

Its OK being open when you and the regulator are joined at the hip in a way that ensures competition in Voice and Broadband services will never materilise unless KC are FORCED by a regulator to provide the equivalent of BT Openreaches WLR3 services and a regulator that permits KCOM to provide anti competitively and illegally tariffed services and offer bespoke business tariffing at retial rates below that it charges its wholesale partners.


The provision of lines by KC which make the provision of the phone line conditional on the acceptance of paying a £3.50 charge for the benefit of making "unlimited" local calls is know as a "tie" and not a service "bundle" since competition for local telephone calls is distorted since customers are locked into local calls by KC.

Please see the following:   

"I checked and we don't act for Kingston so you can refer to me if you want.
The charges would appear to constitute illegal tying or bundling contrary to the Chapter II prohibition (s18) Competition Act 1998, make the provision of one service (provision of phone line) conditional on the provision of another product/service (extra phone minutes at a fixed charge), which the customer may not want, and the tying of which cannot be objectively justified. Where the supplier is dominant this is an abuse of a dominant position. It's hard to see how this would be justified. If it had been previously discussed and cleared with Ofcom eg that Kingston wished to increase charges and regulator said they couldn't unless some quid pro quo, and this was the deal, it would be good to know. In the absence of any such deal, I think Kingston would struggle. A letter pointing this out to Kingston, and possibly saying the charge is in your view illegal as it contravenes CA 1998 would be the right course. Contact with Ofcom as you outline may also be desirable".
Regards,
John Milligan
John Milligan
Partner EU & Competition
Clyde & Co LLP

[hullnet]

BS baffles brains and deflects from the truth !!!

It is good to get off the sand box once and a while you know? Yes we campaign for all sorts of things, I'm campaigning to bring SKy's LLU service, I'm unhappy we have no healthy competition in Hull for BB, but I still feel when our only BB provider is doing something well it deserves a pat on the back.

So like I said, well done Karoo!

[Project Novo]

I had 5 great years at KCOM but the management is dire and they had !!! some good people. 

But unless KCOM are forced to offer WLR3 in Hull it aint ever going to happen since any CP will not invest in its own LLU unless it can demonstrate a market through WLR3 Wholesale line rental services and resell KC's BB access to its own ATM node. 

PN