TalkTalk warns BT's fibre broadband network could end up empty

TalkTalk has warned that BT's £2.5 billion wholesale fibre optic broadband network will fail to attract customers unless the telecoms giant drops its prices.

BT allows rival communications providers to rent access to the infrastructure, meaning they can deliver their own super-fast broadband services to customers.

However, TalkTalk chief executive Dido Harding told the Guardian that Ofcom should launch a consultation into the current pricing, which is around twice the amount to resell connections via BT's copper broadband network.

She argued that new tariffs should be imposed by 2015, once BT has completed its rollout of fibre optic broadband to two-thirds of homes and businesses.

"We need to get a move on otherwise the country will have spent a lot of money building infrastructure which no one is using," Ms Harding explained.

In March, Ofcom imposed new wholesale charges for access to BT's copper broadband and landline network in a bid to protect consumer interests while continuing to provide incentives to invest in rollouts.