Dysfunctional network up for grabs

Oh dear oh dear, I find it terribly sad that a once-proud telecoms business now has nowhere to go but to provide backhaul capacity for the likes of Vodafone, At a time when network capacity is, or ought to be, so precious, it seems ironic that C&W’s assets appear to hold such limited value. This Guardian piece records the most recent (misguided) twists and turns the company has made but surely the broader conclusion has to be that, without a complimentary access network, C&W’s investments are indeed just so many ‘dumb pipes’.

In fairness, C&W has tried to fill this gap in the past – most notably with its abortive acquisition of some local Cable franchises – but, like many others, it faced a regulatory regime which failed to incentivise such investment.  I’ve said it before but what a mistake that was…