Apparently it will take slightly more than 2 weeks to sort out the virtual path problem that has taken my fttc line synced at 66999 down to the point where it returns sub 8 meg tap3 results. I keep hearing about the massive service improvements under BT, cant say I noticed much... certainly noticed the price hikes in recent years shame they didn't up the maintenance on my ropey old copper when they hiked the price.

Just My Opinion (and experience) .... YMMV

From: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9bb648bc-2b87-11e5-8613-e7...

Watchdog probes options to improve UK telecoms market
Daniel Thomas, Telecoms Correspondent
Financial Times; Thu, 16 July, 2015

BT could be broken up under plans being considered in a once-in-a-decade review of the UK communications market to improve services for businesses and consumers.

Ofcom, the telecoms watchdog, is assessing whether current regulations need reforming to improve infrastructure and increase competition.

It signalled that the future of BT would be a major focus of the review, given concerns from rivals about the structure of Openreach, the separate business unit that manages its national broadband network.

BT must give competing providers access to its fixed line network on equal terms, but Ofcom said the current situation needed further review.

Options include making BT split off its national telecoms network to maintaining the status quo or tightening regulations.

Ofcom said the existing approach of regulating Openreach as a separate unit �delivered many benefits to consumers and businesses but also meant that BT still had the incentive to discriminate against competing providers�.

The quality of the service had too often been equally poor for everyone, Ofcom added, while enforcing the current voluntary rules �has not proved straightforward�.

Ofcom considered formally splitting Openreach in its last such major review 10 years ago that resulted in the current system.

The regulator said a split would be complex but could �unlock value and improve customer service, innovation and competition�.

Ofcom came to no conclusions in the discussion paper published on Thursday. Its probe into the future of BT was flagged well in advance, sparking a months-long war of words between the group and its rivals.

The scope of services offered by BT particularly worries its competitors, who complain about service quality and potential abuse of its position as both the main wholesale provider of telecoms services as well as a retail competitor.

Sky and TalkTalk have called for the break-up of Openreach to establish an independent national broadband network that all internet groups could use.

Sky on Thursday reiterated its request for BT to be vetted by the competition watchdog given �a history of under-investment� in Openreach that had caused poor standards of service.

BT said the improvement in infrastructure over the last decade was down to �BT investing billions of pounds in fibre at the height of the recession. That investment wouldn�t have occurred had BT been split in two a decade ago, and our ambitious plans for ultrafast broadband also depend on BT remaining intact.�

Analysts suggested that Ofcom would only move to split BT �as a last resort�. Citi said the review �kills off� structural separation as �too complex for insufficient gain�.

However, Sharon White, Ofcom chief executive, rejected this [by] saying that a split of Openreach was �under serious consideration� and that if Ofcom had wanted to kill the idea it would not be included in the document.

Ms White joined the regulator at the start of the year from the Treasury, bringing a reputation for tough decision making after leading Whitehall spending cuts.

BT has threatened to cut investment in the national network if it is forced to split Openreach. Ms White said Ofcom would take into account investment in the unit as part of its review.

Ofcom aims to make initial conclusions and set out a plan before the end of 2015.

The review covers fixed and wireless networks and services, as well as the technology groups that provide communications such as calls and texts over the internet and are increasingly siphoning revenues away from traditional telecoms businesses.

[..]

Thread about it in General Chatter. Also there is a thinkbroadband News Article.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Thread about it in General Chatter. Also there is a thinkbroadband News Article.

Thanks, Roberto! This is a proper men-chatting-down-the-pub sort of thread, though; about the politics of it all. How to get Openreach back in public ownership, and deliver gigabit fibre to every home, before the decade is out. In a nutshell, we must get Jeremy Corbyn into the Labour Party leadership; ready and primed for No.10.

From: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/34afd8fa-2bcc-11e5-acfb-cb...

The Lex team at the Financial Times is half-way to understanding the problem; the reality for Openreach is that it needs to be re-nationalised, like Railtrack was, to facilitate the massive injection of public funds to update our telecoms network for the 21st century...

ft.com > Companies > Telecoms
July 16, 2015 6:55 pm

BT and Openreach: split is hard to resist

Telecoms group�s argument against a separation of its utility business is a weak one

The Kit Kat. Separable chocolate-covered wafers. The temptation to snap them apart is almost impossible to resist. Is the same true of the urge to split linked telecoms businesses? Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, is pondering the question. BT, the incumbent operator, owns Openreach, which runs the main wireline network and sells access to it to operators, including its own. Over the next few months Ofcom will decide whether the set-up needs to change.

BT is firmly against a full split. Shareholders, on the other hand, could benefit from it. They would be left with a regulated, cash generative, dividend-paying utility business � Openreach � and a services business competing with Sky and TalkTalk. Shareholders do not seem to gain from owning these two businesses in the same group � BT�s services business does not get preferential rates on network access, nor (says BT) does it use Openreach�s cash flow to invest in the service business. And there may even be value in a split. BT�s enterprise value is 7 times forecast earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. Sky, a rival to BT�s retail services business, is on 12. National Grid, a regulated utility (albeit in a different industry) is on 10.
[..]
BT says that a split would limit Openreach�s ability to invest, as having a services business allows BT to capture more of the value that investments in the network create. This is a weak argument. On that logic, BT should also own a fibre optic cable maker and the football club whose games would be broadcast on the improved network.

So the case for a split is unproven. But it merits more consideration than BT seems prepared to give it.

to facilitate the massive injection of public funds

In your dreams.

In reply to a post by MCM:

In your dreams.

What ever do you mean?! Jeremy Corbyn can make our dreams come true! A journalist friend of mine interviewed Corbyn earlier this year, and he's got some very promising policies up his sleeves.

There is a dire need for direct state investment in the physical economy; and not just the telecoms sector. With those vital infrastructure investment funds coming from a new National Bank. A bank that issues credit secured on the future access fees to public infrastructure. The issuance of credit being based on the principles of Alexander Hamilton's first National Bank of the USA.

It's been done many times before. It's exactly what China and the BRICS group of nations are doing right now, with their new infrastructure investment banks.

While rare in England where the City dominates our domestic economic policy, the issuance of national credit for public works programmes is commonplace elsewhere, especially during wartime. The national credit policy was employed during WWI, and was a mainstay of Roosevelt's economic policy before and during WWII.

The Brits might be blind and blinkered from centuries of kow-towing to the City, but once those shackles are off - and let's face it, the City has shafted the Brits - never say never!

Edited by deleted (Sun 19-Jul-15 22:23:57)

Given next General Election that Labour might or might not win is some years away can we stop posting in a manner that looks like PR for the next Labour leader, when the discussion is about changes that if they happen will start in the next year to two years.

Just think if BT, Openreach were split, & the decision made to scrap the HS2 rail link & to use that cash on Openreach instead to modernise the aging network in this country..

Much better use of money in my opinion, & they also, promoted telecommuting, could open up a lot of opportunities.

Edited by Nightglow (Sun 19-Jul-15 22:54:05)

The hs2 money while looking nice is not a single pot but costed over 10 to 15 years, not sure people will wait that long without some incremental upgrades

Then how does llu and vula work? Virgin Media have a big say as a cash strapped openreach is good for them