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UK: Regulator goes to Europe to force reform at BT Openreach

By  |  November 30, 2016

Britain’s telecoms regulator will go to the European Commission to try to force BT to legally separate Openreach, the division that supplies broadband to millions of homes and businesses, in a major reform aimed at spurring investment in the country’s aging network.

The regulator, which despite Britain’s vote to leave the European Union still needs European Commission support to force through change at Openreach, wants BT Openreach to plow more money into upgrading its copper networks to fiber to catch up some European rivals and the likes of South Korea and Japan.

Ofcom’s decision to up the ante follows the failure to reach a voluntary deal after more than a year of talks.

It said it was “disappointed” that BT had not done enough to separate Openreach from the rest of the group. It had ordered the former state monopoly to run the network arm as a legally separate company in July.

“Some progress has been made, but this has not been enough, and action is required now to deliver better outcomes for phone and broadband users,” the regulator said on Tuesday.

Full Content: Business Insider

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