Energy companies must choose their retail fibre broadband strategies carefully

"Energy company involvement in the fixed broadband sector has the potential to make a considerable impact on competitive dynamics."

Energy companies that are deploying fibre infrastructure must consider different options when addressing the retail fibre market. Such companies must decide whether the fibre network should operate on an open basis with multiple competing retail ISPs or on a closed basis with a single ISP, and whether they wish to be retail ISPs, which applies whether the network is run on an open or closed basis. Energy companies could also choose to become ISPs on infrastructure that they do not own.

This comment examines the successes and failure of energy companies that have adopted different retail strategies, and is based on Analysys Mason's recently published report FTTx conversion: worldwide trends and forecasts 2017–2022.