In uk.telecom.broadband News Reader <no@email.invalid> wrote:

: A further / side thought. Let's wait and see.

: The argument of the "it costs this much" line of thinking, concludes that
: line rentals must go up in coming years as BT face reducing revenue from
: associated products / services (from their traditional monopoly areas as
: less and less telephony revenue comes in and competition in the data access
: service market eats at any legacy monopoly benefit sales in those areas) and
: so less revenue is available to use to subsidise line rental.

I think that this has already happened!

"Line rentals" in the USA were reported to be around the 3 pounds/month
level at one time as I recall - this would seem to me to be a more
reasonable cost for the maintenance of the copper to the exchange.

BT have, I believe, insisted on including all their infrastructure costs
within the "line rental" here. Also, as now, when profits on calls are
neglible there is a suspicion that they have inflated this to as high a level
as OFCOM will allow to give the maximum level of "base income".

That would seem to give the possibility of a "low line rental for ADSL only
when the ISP uses their own LLU equipment" ... but I bet this will not be
at all popular with BT!!!!