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[Bowdon]

Sky UK and BT Chiefs Spar Over Openreach’s Future and Broadband

Sky’s (Sky Broadband) CFO and COO, Andrew Griffith, has today warned that the UK is at “serious risk of falling behind” other countries in the broadband league table, unless Ofcom splits Openreach from BT. Meanwhile BT’s CEO, Gavin Patterson, once again accused rivals of making “inaccurate claims” and “gaming the regulator to secure commercial advantage.”

The bitter row is of course a continuation of the same one that we’ve been hearing for the best part of two years, which is centred on Ofcom’s on-going Strategic Review of the United Kingdom’s market for digital communication services (mobile, broadband, phone etc.).

The headline piece of that review is a proposal by the regulator to partly address the long-running competition and investment concerns by turning Openreach, BT’s UK network access division, into a “ring-fenced, ‘wholly-owned subsidiary’ of BT Group, with its own purpose and board members.” Failure to reach a deal on this could result in Openreach being forcibly split.

[kitz]

TBH, the argument is now getting rather boring.

Sky says

UK is at “serious risk of falling behind” other countries in the broadband league table, unless Ofcom splits Openreach from BT.

BT says 

once again accused rivals of making “inaccurate claims” and “gaming the regulator to secure commercial advantage.”

Personally I don't see how the split would make any difference and only hinder progress.. but hey ho.
The others have access to the ducts, nowt stopping them.

[Chrysalis]

It is getting silly now.

[kitz]

btw...

"Fix Britain's Internet" is a sneaky and underhand move. - "Sign here to get better broadband" and "Tell Ofcom it’s time to fix Britain’s internet." splashed all over the social media sites, which takes you to a form in which you enter your email address saying "Enter your details to complete your email to Ofcom. Tell them it’s time to fix Britain’s internet."

Yet its only if you look closely at what you sign you realise this is the email that you end up sending to OFCOM

For the attention of Sharon White, CEO of Ofcom; and copied to my local MP who I hope will also take an interest.

This email is my response to Ofcom's consultation about the future of Britain's internet. Thank you, Sharon for asking for our opinions. I wanted to write to you as Chief Executive to tell you why having great broadband matters to me and what I believe needs to happen.

I believe my family, my community and our local businesses deserve the best broadband in the world. Whether it's finding a job, doing the shopping, educating our kids or falling in love, the internet is essential to our lives and futures.

Millions of people are not getting the broadband they need today because Openreach is run for the benefit of BT shareholders, not the country. I want to see my money invested in faster, more reliable services and the best technology possible. Instead, things seem to be getting worse.

I'm pleased that Ofcom has agreed things need to change. Ofcom has said separating Openreach entirely is the "cleanest and most clear-cut long term solution". I know this is a big decision, but you have my full support to be bold and do whatever is necessary to create an Openreach that works for the whole of Britain.

There's no obvious mention who is running the site until you look very closely at the Privacy statement which says

Vodafone and TalkTalk have both contracted with an external third party Blue State Digital to provide and run this website which enables you to send letters to Ofcom in response to its consultation around an Openreach that works for everyone.

The campaign isnt about better broadband, its about splitting Openreach.

[Chrysalis]

Bear in mind kitz I meant its silly from BT as well.

Given openreach in its current form is a gigantic roadblock for progression (as is the view of some of us), I can understand why some people are campaigning for it to be split

Personally I dont give a rat's ass about the well been of BT group, there is no need to protect them they make very healthy profits, the shareholders do very well out of it and the employees are treated extremely well..

I dont care about sky, talktalk and vodafone either, it just so happens what they are saying I would be ok with.

Now if BT tomorrow came out with a statement saying "if we keep openreach we will complete FTTP rollout in all UK cities by 2020", then I would want BT to keep openreach.

For me its nothing to do with company loyalty, its about the investment and progression of the technical service.

In all this bickering not once has BT group came out and said why its better for them to keep openreach, instead all they have done is make threats to say they will be awkrawd if it were to be split off.

BT's research is all about prolonging life of copper, they only spend money on research with the aim of delaying investment in fibre.  After all research is a lot cheaper than digging up roads.  They not some world class company that invents everything communication wise, far from it.

If BT retail was split off, but BTw and openreach kept as one unit, it would achieve nothing if BT group owns the latter as BT group is very evasive to investment.

The reason I think this is getting silly is the fact ofcom have already made the decision to not split off openreach, so its pointless anyone going on about it to the media. They would only suddenly change their mind if directed to by the government.

[Black Sheep]

Talk Talk were part of a round-table meeting recently ........

Making the right decisions and building great plans relies on us having the right information

That’s why I brought our leadership team together last week for a jam-packed meeting to review our half-year performance.

Charles Bligh, MD TalkTalk joined us to give a candid view on what we’re doing right and what to do differently to help his customers. Ed Vaizey, the former Minister for Broadband, gave his view on our service and the importance of our big bold plan. We then reviewed that big bold plan – the successes, what’s still to do and the ground-breaking innovation at the Openreach Adastral Park labs that’ll help us deliver it.

We also took the opportunity to think long-term about what we need to do right now in order to stay ahead of rising customer demand in the future. The meeting finished with an inspiring session with several of our challenge cup teams who are making a difference for customers with their projects.

There was lots to talk about and your leaders took copious notes ready to share and discuss with you.

We have big challenges ahead - but it was great to see that we’ve made a good start and we’re on the right track.

Clive (CEO Openreach).

[Dray]

That sounds promising

[renluop]

Talk Talk were part of a round-table meeting recently ........

Making the right decisions and building great plans relies on us having the right information

That’s why I brought our leadership team together last week for a jam-packed meeting to review our half-year performance.

Charles Bligh, MD TalkTalk joined us to give a candid view on what we’re doing right and what to do differently to help his customers. Ed Vaizey, the former Minister for Broadband, gave his view on our service and the importance of our big bold plan. We then reviewed that big bold plan – the successes, what’s still to do and the ground-breaking innovation at the Openreach Adastral Park labs that’ll help us deliver it.

We also took the opportunity to think long-term about what we need to do right now in order to stay ahead of rising customer demand in the future. The meeting finished with an inspiring session with several of our challenge cup teams who are making a difference for customers with their projects.

There was lots to talk about and your leaders took copious notes ready to share and discuss with you.

We have big challenges ahead - but it was great to see that we’ve made a good start and we’re on the right track.

Clive (CEO Openreach).

Interpretation of emboldened text, intended to be humorous (at least for minds as warped as mine )
Jam packed meeting: smallest room we could find to ensure atmosphere so bad, everyone would leave. Memo to PA, "if you want a rise, next time find a cupboard"!

to give a candid view: i.e. one which contained numerous words form OFCOM's list of potentially offensive language.