As part of its ongoing National Broadband Plan Staff Workshops, the FCC hosted a panel discussion today on International Lessons. NoChokePoints coalition member and international telecommunications leader, BT was represented by BT non-executive board member and president of Lathen Consulting, Deborah Lathen. During the debate over the value of regulation versus the effect of market control, Lathen pointed out that:

“There are two critical lessons from the UK’s broadband experience that are relevant in the US context. First, effective regulation of bottlenecks drives service competition which in turn drives availability and low prices. In the UK, service competition has been the driving force behind achieving near universal availability of 2 Mbps broadband service at some of the lowest prices amongst OECD countries. Second, regulatory holidays are not necessary to incentivize next generation infrastructure investment.  Risky infrastructure investment can be rewarded with appropriate and fair regulation and returns.”

During the formal launch of the NoChokePoints Coalition earlier this year, BT Senior Business Director, Colin Spence also discussed the international model and the effect a “closed off” special access market has on broadband deployment and prices in the United States (video).

Facts about the current state of broadband in the UK:

• There is intense broadband service competition in the UK. Approximately 700 national and regional ISPs compete to serve a population that is one fifth that of the United States occupying a landmass that is the size of the state of Oregon.
• Over 99 percent of the exchanges in the UK have been enabled for ADSL service and over 89% of homes can get 2 Mbps or higher headline speeds.
• Ofcom (the UK Regulator) estimates that the average delivered broadband speed in the UK is 4.1 Mbps (the average ‘headline speed’ in the UK is 8Mbps to 10Mbps).
• The UK has one of the lowest average monthly subscription prices for broadband amongst the OECD countries.
• Among the G7 countries, the UK has moved from a laggard position in 2001 to one of leadership in 2009 in terms of broadband penetration. At 28.5 per 100 inhabitants, its broadband penetration  rate is second only to that of Canada.