New fibre networks built by BT should be opened to its rivals - but their construction should also be worth its while financially - the European Commission has said.
The European Commission has expressed concern over broadband markets in member states, including the UK.
Each nation's leading telecoms provider should open next-generation fibre networks to competitors, the commissioners said. Good returns should be secured on the construction of these fibre systems, they added, in recommendations mapped out in a draft report for national telecoms regulators such as Britain's Ofcom.
Earnings of between eight and 12 per cent on the cost of construction were set as appropriate levels of remuneration by the commissioners, the Financial Times reports. Firms such as BT, and Deutsche Telekom in Germany, would earn money from the new networks over the long term by renting their use to smaller broadband providers.
The report comes along with concerns that European countries are falling behind other developed nations, such as Japan and South Korea, in the installation of fibre broadband, which has the capacity of connection speeds of up to 100MB per second.
Funding is the main barrier to construction, an overall installation cost of a national network estimated to be in the eight figures. Accordingly, BT said that it was willing to spend just £1.5 billion on a limited service earlier this year - and, even then, only if Ofcom allowed it "appropriate" returns.
"We want national rules that will not only encourage the necessary substantial investments in fibre but also strengthen broadband competition," European telecoms commissioner Neelie Kroes, launching the recommendations report, explained.
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