?

Credit: GettyFamiliar ring? BT is cited as an example for private education providers

The privatisation of the UK telecoms industry ¡°provides a useful model for the growth of higher education¡± in showing that monopolies can be broken to benefit consumers, the government was told by a private college aiming for degree-awarding powers.

London School of Business and Finance - which has denied rumours that it is seeking to buy London Metropolitan University - made the comments in its response to the consultation on last year¡¯s higher education White Paper.

Consultation responses were obtained by Times Higher Education from the government under the Freedom of Information Act.

É«ºÐÖ±²¥

LSBF, a non-profit institution that is part of a group with for-profit interests, also said it hopes to become the latest private provider to gain degree-awarding powers.

So far, only six private institutions have gained the coveted status, which means they can offer degrees independently of universities.

É«ºÐÖ±²¥

In its consultation response, LSBF, owned by Aaron and Arye Etingen, offers a challenge to universities. ¡°In the telecoms world, the UK moved from having a monopoly provider, to the introduction of third parties accessing a dominant party network, then to a competitive, customer-focused environment encouraging investment, innovation, product development, and collaborative working that provides customers with effective choice. The telecoms industry therefore provides a useful model for the growth of the higher education sector.¡±

After privatisation, BT is still ¡°a leading blue-chip organisation¡± and has ¡°changed the way it operates, innovated, and worked collaboratively with competitors¡­Existing higher education providers should take heart,¡± the school says.

It adds: ¡°In constructing a new regulatory scheme for higher education, we should keep in mind the principles that guided the changes to the telecoms industry in the 1980s.¡±

Among these were the need to ¡°protect against monopoly position¡±, to ¡°promote competition¡± and ¡°maximise flotation proceeds from the wave of privatisations¡±, says LSBF, which has a joint venture agreement with London Met.

É«ºÐÖ±²¥

The school says the Higher Education Funding Council for England must become ¡°an effective regulator of a modern (ie, 4G in telecoms terms) industry¡±, which means being ¡°unencumbered by previous responsibilities and ways of working¡±.

The response states that LSBF ¡°is interested in the government¡¯s plans for reform of the process for obtaining degree-awarding powers, as we intend to pursue such powers for our organisation¡±.

john.morgan@tsleducation.com.