The European Commission has given the green light to deregulation of telecommunications companies in the United Kingdom. The company that has been handling regulation of the telecommunications is Ofcom. Once the deregulation goes through, 65 percent of homes and businesses across the United Kingdom will be under a competitive market.

Not all of the United Kingdom will be deregulated. Some markets will still be under restrictions and regulations until they meet competitive market criteria such as having four or more telecommunications companies offering services. Having enough companies offering services ensures fair and competitive market pricing.

Market deregulation also means a change in the rules of the market. When a market is under regulation each company has to accommodate certain business practices to make sure they operating their business in a fair manner for customers and not abusing their monopoly status. Once a market is deregulated, it no longer has those restrictions enforced by regulating agencies, even though the unwritten rule is to continue to operate as if it did.

“I welcome the precedent set by Ofcom’s proposal to define sub-national geographic markets. The proposal at the same time has enabled the Commission to provide clear guidance and policy principles for all national regulators in this important area. This should now be a solid basis for a coherent European regulatory approach to regional markets and give the required legal certainty to the market,” said Viviane Reding, the EU’s Telecoms Commissioner.

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