BT Openreach opens up seven million unbundled lines

The number of unbundled lines created through BT Openreach for other internet service providers (ISPs) to offer broadband access has passed seven million, according to new figures from Ofcom, helping to almost double the number of UK broadband connections.

The Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator said in its Update for August 2010 that the figure underlines growing competition in the UK broadband market and the resulting benefits for consumers and businesses.

BT was forced to begin opening its network to other ISPs in 2005, and over 70 per cent of the 19 million broadband lines in the UK are now provided by more than 30 different companies.

This competitive market has also boosted the uptake of broadband in the UK from 37 per cent of all homes and business in 2005, to 71 per cent today.

Openreach said passing the seven million figure was a huge success for the division and said it hoped its next-generation network would have a similar effect.

"Openreach is proud to now underpin one of the most vibrant and competitive telecoms markets anywhere in the world, and we are committed to building on this success with the rollout of our next generation fibre access network," it said.

"In common with local loop unbundling, this network is open to all providers on an equivalent basis, providing real benefits for consumer choice and competition."‬‪

Matthew Howett, a regulatory analyst at Ovum, suggested that the latest figures prove that the creation of BT Openreach had produced the desired effect.

"Before 2005 there were a lot of issues around the way BT gave its engineers preferential treatment to working on its services before those of other operators," he said.

"As such Oftel [now Ofcom] threatened to take BT to the competition regulator which could have seen BT lose its network assets. Instead, it offered to set up the division known as Openreach to act as a 'Chinese wall' between itself and other firms."

However, the success of Openreach may prompt Ofcom to change the procedures around the unbundling system to help BT maintain an equal footing in the market, according to Howett.

"BT is currently limited over what it can charge for access to its network through Openreach, but an Ofcom consultation that ends in October could well give some power back to BT in certain areas to allow it set pricing itself," he said.

"This could have a big benefit for BT, and we expect a statement from Ofcom towards the end of the year on whether anything will change."