Consultation on relaxing the restrictions on the deployment of overhead telecommunications lines

Update - 18 April 2013

This consultation, which proposed to relax the restrictions on the deployment of overhead telecoms lines, closed in February 2012. In September 2012, we unveiled a package of measures aimed at reducing the cost of roll-out of superfast broadband. This contained further proposals to relax the restrictions on overhead lines, and we published a further consultation in January 2013. Therefore, we didn’t feel it would be necessary to publish a formal response to this consultation. We are, however, pleased to publish the public responses, for information.

Original consultation text

As part of our ambitions to ensure the UK has the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015, the government is committed to reducing the barriers to investment and lowering the cost of deploying overhead telecommunications lines to help bring ‘superfast broadband’ (broadband speeds faster than 24 megabits per second) to hard to reach areas.

We are consulting on proposals to allow the deployment of new overhead telecoms lines, which could reduce the cost of deployment by up to 50% and help deliver superfast broadband into areas that would otherwise not be served by the market.

This consultation sets out how we intend to implement this, and what protections will remain in place for communities and rural areas.