Kitz Forum
Announcements => News Articles => Topic started by: Bowdon on June 14, 2018, 12:50:52 PM
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https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2018/06/ofcom-find-bt-making-reasonable-progress-on-legal-openreach-split.html (https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2018/06/ofcom-find-bt-making-reasonable-progress-on-legal-openreach-split.html)
Openreach has today been deemed by the national UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, to be making “satisfactory” progress in most but not all areas with their on-going efforts to become a distinct company away from BT, which follows last year’s agreement to legally separate the operator’s network access division.
Ofcom’s 2016 Strategic Review found that Openreach still had an “incentive to make decisions in the interests of BT, rather than BT’s competitors, which can lead to competition problems” and that the BT had failed to “sufficiently” consult rival ISPs, such as those that piggyback off their network, on future “investment plans that affect them.” They were also deemed to have under-invested in their network to the tune of “hundreds of millions of pounds.”
In response BT and Ofcom last year reached a voluntary agreement, which aimed to boost competition by giving rivals easier access to the operator’s infrastructure and fostering an independent governance structure for Openreach, as well as tougher minimum service quality standards, separate branding, new consumer protection measures and better information sharing etc.
Ofcom has been monitoring BT’s implementation progress on all of this via their Openreach Monitoring Unit (OMU) and, as we’ve now passed the agreement’s first anniversary, they have today published an update. Overall the regulator found that satisfactory progress has been made but some issues with implementing legal separation have suffered a delay.