Telecoms regulator
Ofcom has proposed allowing BT to bundle phone, broadband and
telephone services for the first time.
After a review of the telecoms retail market, an Ofcom
consultation document says the proposal seeks to further
competition. The last review was in 2003.
BT has until now been barred from offering bundled services
because of its dominant position in the phone market.
Ofcom said proposals to lift these regulatory controls are in
response to "healthy competition" in the market.
The regulator said competition had been enabled setting up BT
subsidiary
Openreach in 2005, which rents out BT network capacity to
rivals.
These rivals, such as BSkyB, have also benefitted from being
able to sell bundled services at a lower cost.
"This deregulation means that BT will be competing on a more
level playing field with other communications providers," BT said
in a statement.
BT said the move will benefit both consumers and businesses
alike because it will ultimately mean more attractive packages and
deals.
Deregulation around service bundling is the latest proposal to
come from Ofcom that has advantages for BT.
Earlier this month, Ofcom proposed to let
BT set its own return on investment targets for rolling out a
fibre-based high-speed broadband network to compensate for a
"risky" investment.