OFCOM WARN BT THAT SPLIT IS COMING

The status quo between BT and its subsidiary Openreach, which provides the infrastructure connecting people to the internet, is unlikely to continue warns the head of the telecoms regulator, Ofcom.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34972638

Your subject doesn't seem to match the article. One of the 4 options is further deregulation which would be very different to forcing a split. The split is only one of the 4 options on the table.

And if Ofcom are so upset about it maybe they should pull their finger out and change things rather than spending years naval gazing.

My reading is that Ofcom accepts something needs to change, and while a full split is one of the options, it is just one of the options.

In short, Ofcom doing nothing and letting the next 10 years be exactly the same as the last 10 years is not an option.

The biggest quandary is what will work for two thirds of the UK may not work for the other third.

Ofcom's chief executive, Sharon White, is currently reviewing the company's provision of superfast broadband.

She said one option was "the structural separation" of Openreach from BT.

Ms White explained this was among four possible options being explored. They are:

Whether to maintain the status quo which she said was "unlikely."

More deregulation.

The "structural separation" of Openreach and BT - in particular whether Openreach could be spun out more fully from BT.

Adjusting the existing system to make it "more fit for purpose". That could include improving services, repairs, and laying new superfast lines.

There are two main options. selling off Openreach or spinning it off as a wholly owned BT subsidiary company

In reply to a post by Bob_s2:

spinning it off as a wholly owned BT subsidiary company

Where does it say that?

Interested in hearing how a 'a wholly owned BT subsidiary company' is significantly different to now, since if BT Group own 100% of the shares surely that Group has the influence still that competitors complain of.

There is a very big difference between a BT Group Company and a wholly owned BT subsidiary company. In the case of the later it is a totally separate legal entity with its own P&L and own board of directors and with its own accounts filled at companies house. It would become the same as DAB's which is a wholly owned BT subsiderry

In reply to a post by Bob_s2:

There are two main options. selling off Openreach or spinning it off as a wholly owned BT subsidiary company

So the BBC news article is wrong? Do you have any links to where those 2 options are proposed?

Indeed, especially this option

In reply to a post by Bob_s2:

selling off Openreach

Ofcom will do as little as they can get away with tho.

When I emailed the new CEO a few weeks back after my contact in ofcom got told to stop communicating with me, the response I got was on one issue is they think there is no market failure on landline line rental and call costs. To them because some tiny providers offer non inflated prices there is no issue.

Ofcom is really a regulator that's there to make sure all reseller's of BT sourced services can make money fairly between each other, its not a regulator for the consumer, they only provide minimum regulation on retail services, the majority of it is on wholesale only.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

The biggest quandary is what will work for two thirds of the UK may not work for the other third.

IMHO, this is the key point (though I think the threshold is somewhere around 80% now).

In today's Infrastructure Report (whatever they changed the name to, alongside dumbing down the actual content), one main headline was "The focus should now be on delivering better broadband to all, so everyone can benefit".

If Ofcom truly want to act as the consumer's friend for rural consumers (ie the "everyone" that still needs to benefit) then they need to stop acting in a way that focuses on "cheapest". If they continue down that avenue, then they are only acting on behalf of the ones who live in competitive areas.

If there's a split coming, I can only think that it has to work in two completely ways, for two completely different markets.

Perhaps one arm of Openreach would be meant to work with Sky and TT against VM (as the other infrastructure owner), while the other needs to work with altnets in a supportive way, perhaps almost charitable.

Surely that's a simple enough fix for OFCOM,

ISP's must charge a single price to all it's customers regardless of location and can not refuse to take on a customer based on their location.

Some how I don't think they'll go for that, but the final third or so issue still needs to be addressed as they can't be left behind and if others have to pay a little more so be it.