BT Spins Off Last-Mile Network Into New Company
 

BT has revealed the deal it struck with Ofcom to avoid break-up - a multi-billion-pound spin-off that will be responsible for opening up the "last-mile" of its network to competitors.

Openreach, a new division within BT Group, will contain BT's field force of 25,000 engineers, largely from BT Retail and BT Wholesale. It will have its own headquarters and a fleet of 22,000 vans - all to be re-sprayed with multi-coloured waves stretching the length of the vehicle.

The unit is designed to focus BT's local-loop unbundling, which competitors have said are far from adequate. The company will be legally accountable for the unbundling operations, and will be overseen by the newly created Equality of Access Board (EAB).

Cable & Wireless, which owns broadband provider Bulldog and is BT's largest telecoms competitor, said the creation of Openreach was a step forward, but won't necessarily make a significant difference. The company noted the Telecom Adjudicator's finding that "right first time delivery" has gone backwards for two months in a row.

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