Faster broadband as BT & Openreach split

Millions of people could get cheaper, faster and more reliable broadband after BT finally agreed a deal to legally separate from Openreach, which maintains the UK’S cable infrastructure.

It follows two years of negotiations with regulator Ofcom, which wanted Openreach to become independent in order to increase competition in the broadband market.

Most of BT’S rival internet service providers (ISPS), including Sky, Vodafone and Talktalk, have to rent cables from Openreach (Virgin Media uses its own network). They have long complained that having Openreach and BT as part of the same company is a serious conflict of interests.

They accuse Openreach of delaying vital broadband repairs and being slow to open up new sections of the network. This has seen the UK struggle to keep up with rising broadband speeds around the world. Latest figures show that the UK has only the 20th fastest service, below many poorer countries including Latvia, Romania and Bulgaria.

Around 32,000 BT employees will transfer to Openreach. While the new company’s budget will continue to be set by BT, significantly Openreach will decide how to spend it.

Openreach will now enter talks with ISPS about deploying more fibre-optic cables capable of delivering super-fast broadband. These talks will be kept secret from BT.

The move has been welcomed by all parties, particularly BT’S rivals. A Sky spokesperson said that it’s “a step towards delivering better service to customers and the investment that the UK needs”.

Ofcom boss Sharon White promised that the new Openreach “will be built to serve all its customers equally”, and will take decisions that benefit the whole industry, not just BT.