BT share price: Telecoms giant urges regulator to allow scrapping of traditional phone network

BT Group Plc (LON:BT.A) is calling for Ofcom to let it dismantle the traditional telephone network, as part of a campaign to loosen regulations in the telecommunications sector. According to the company this move will help telecoms firms compete more effectively with US Internet companies such as Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB).

The telecoms giant is planning to migrate its landlines to internet-based voice calls over the next decade, but under the current Ofcom rules it is obligated to provide a traditional phone service. BT is now urging the regulator to lift the obligation, claiming that this move will have no impact on the majority f its customers.
Mark Shurmer, BT’s director of regulatory affairs, commented, as quoted by The Telegraph: “We believe obsolete regulation should be rolled back, rather than clinging on until the last user dies. What we are looking for is a kind of ‘sunset clause’ that will help customers to plan.”
The provision of the traditional phone network is responsibility of Openreach, BT’s infrastructure division, which oversees all national telecoms infrastructure whilst under obligation to provide equal access to rivals such as Sky and TalkTalk.
In today’s trading, BT shares were up 0.5 percent at 465.90p, as of 11:01 BST. The stock has risen 16.1 percent since the start of the year, boosting the company’s market valuation to £38.9 billion.
The 18 analysts offering 12 month price targets for BT have a median target of 519.00p, with a high estimate of 600.00p and a low estimate of 355.00p. As of June 19, 2015, the consensus forecast amongst 23 polled investment analysts covering BT had it that the company will outperform the market. The same consensus estimate has been maintained since November 05, 2013, when the sentiment of investment analysts improved from “hold”.
As of 13:30 BST, Thursday, 25 June, BT Group plc share price is 462.63p.