Ofcom has moved instead to introduce temporary regulations in business markets where it believes BT has significant market power. That includes the original plan to introduce charge controls on Openreach, BT’s engineering arm, which the group has resisted.

The regulator has also forged ahead with a plan to force Openreach to introduce ‘dark fibre’ products that allow wholesale customers like Sky and TalkTalk to take control of unlit fibre lines. Ofcom remains determined to introduce dark fibre into the market despite the court setback and Openreach’s opposition.

Matthew Howett, an analyst with Assembly, said that the situation has got “a bit messy” with some elements of the temporary regulation overlapping with consultations the regulator has already kicked off.

The ruling is the latest in a series of showdowns between BT and Ofcom. They faced off in court this year over business connectivity measures and will do so off again in December over the impending 5G spectrum auction rules.

Matthew Howett, founder and principal analyst with research company Assembly, said the case shows the UK government is not acting clearly when it comes to mobile network expansion. The higher fees for mobile phone providers, which in effect reduce their profits and ability to invest in their networks, came at a time when the government was trying to improve coverage. Indeed, the Budget included a £160m pledge by the government to invest in boosting the UK’s prospects in 5G network development.

“A couple of years ago Germany committed money that had been earned during a recent spectrum auction to be poured back into rural broadband initiatives. It’s about time the UK government started thinking in a similarly joined-up way,” he added.

The 2009 launch was the “envy of the world”, says Matthew Howett, principal analyst at research company Assembly, with other countries taking their own incumbent players to task for not matching the ambition of the Australians.

“While the type of navel-gazing we’ve seen in Australia recently usually uncovers some important lessons, the truth is infrastructure deployments at scale have always been complicated, expensive and rarely without setback. If broadband could be rolled out using reports, inquiries and investigations, the UK would probably have the fastest broadband in the world by now,” says Matt Howett, principal analyst with Assembly.