I’m aware that, for legislative purposes, Openreach have satisfied the requirements of being independent of BT. But I wonder, how independent are they in layman’s terms, to those who are not corporate lawyers?
One source of reference is Companies House, for Openreach Ltd.
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/10690039From above one can navigate to Filing History, then Accounts. I’m not providing a link as it looks like a privacy-compromising web beacon, but the accounts for year to 2019 state in the Strategic Report that...
The Company does not own any assets or conduct trading, benefit from the rewards nor bear the risks of those assets and trading. Ownership of such assets and trading and such risks and rewards has been retained by BT plc.
Follow Companies House the link to ‘People’, then ‘Persons with significant control’, there is just one person listed, named as... “British Telecommunications Plc“.
Repeat I fully appreciate that for legal purposes, BT and Openreach are not the same, they are legally different companies. But in casual conversation, do we really need to distinguish them? My opinion is... No we don’t, regardless of obscure company laws, they are equivalent for practical purposes.
Other viewpoints and opinions appreciated.