Residential line rental should be reduced by 9% to £8.39 a month, while the cost of business line rental should drop by 8% to £9.17 per month, according to the watchdog.
The recommendation follows a voluntary cut to £8.74 per month imposed by BT Wholesale on its Wholesale Line Rental (WLR) charge for residential customers in August this year.
Ofcom’s proposed changes aim to support the continued growth of competition in the market. The regulator believes that over time, more choice of supplier and more services offered via a single bill will increase value for money for consumers and businesses.
Ofcom decided to review the existing charge controls (set by Oftel in August 2002) following the completion of its work to value BT's copper access network and the cost of capital assessment. Both statements were published in August 2005.
Ofcom is consulting on the proposals and seeks comments by 12th December.
