Request from BT for an exemption from the Undertakings for the Microconnect Distributed Antenna service

Start: 22 January 2015
Status: Statement published
End: 23 February 2015

This consultation document sets out BT’s request for an exemption from its Undertakings for its Microconnect Distributed Antenna (“MDA”) service, together with our views and proposal to agree to the exemption.

The Undertakings are a series of voluntary commitments offered by BT in 2005 to address specific competition concerns. They include, amongst other things, the obligation on Openreach to not supply any product to any other part of BT unless it also offers that product to other Communications Providers on an equivalent basis.

MDA is a fibre based service which provides remote connectivity to small antennas mounted on top of street furniture in the area surrounding Westminster. This service can be used by mobile network operators (“MNOs”) to provide mobile telecommunications coverage and capacity to consumers and businesses in that area.

An existing exemption from the Undertakings allows BT to offer the MDA service to one MNO. This new exemption request is to allow BT to offer the MDA service to all MNOs.