BT agrees to legal separation of Openreach

[HEXUS]

"The new Openreach will be built to serve all its customers equally," says Ofcom chief.

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[ik9000]

Let's see how this goes, but it will hopefully be good news. Now the government just needs to do a good job of the 5G sell-off to ensure BT-EE doesn't get too large a slice and we might just get some competition. Hopefully this will lead to investment in and development of a decent infrastructure. Roll on FTTP (I hope)

[ChewieJ]

Without being too pessimistic, i'd be expecting lead times for any new work or repair work for faulty phone line/broadband to go up.

As they are meant to be a totally separate company, this should mean added paperwork (including cock ups due to lost paperwork, incorrect paperwork etc etc) making things slower overall.

But, we shall have to wait and see.

[Ozaron]

Yyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssss. Only about 15 years too damn late. Hopefully all of the legal stuff doesn't slow down their implementation of an exchange upgrade for my line. The legacy of BT's monopoly will extend another year or two in my area if it does.

1.5mbit has wasted measurable amounts of my life at this point, not to mention time spent trying to hold it together like a satellite made of rust and duct tape flying into the atmosphere.

[LSG501]

We'll see how it goes...
While we hope for more competition there's always the chance this will push prices up at the wholesale level.

[peterb]

Be careful what you wish for, it might come true. I can't really see you this is going to change things for the better, but it will depend on you the new company is set up, and what assets are transferred to the new company.

[ParaFinn]

It's time bloody Ofcom was disbanded.

[ik9000]

Yyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssss. Only about 15 years too damn late.

This is a barn door. Can anyone see the horse?

[Ozaron]

This is a barn door. Can anyone see the horse?

The horse probably moved to South Korea by now. Irony being, its barn had a better chance of modern internet or at least g.fast than I do.

[ik9000]

yeah I've been in Norfolk. Not the fastest internet out there. Especially around the Broads. Though the mobile signal is better than it used to be there are still annoying dead spots.

[jimborae]

The annual budget for OpenReach will still be set by BT so I doubt very much is going to change at all. Investment in consumer fibre connections will still be little to non existent and the company will probably be run into the ground as much as possible.

[LSG501]

Though the mobile signal is better than it used to be there are still annoying dead spots.

LOL... I'm in one of the largest villages in Norfolk and can't even get a phone call from some providers, let alone data... I actually know where the mast is too and it's not that far from me yet for some reason I can't get decent if any data speeds... funny that, mind you I'm pretty much limited to vodafone due to the others not even giving decent telephone signal strength...
Perfect example is O2 that my power company uses for their smart meters... it 'says' 3 bars but can't connect lol. Soon as the installer said he couldn't connect and said the sim was O2 my first response was you're screwed, you don't get a signal here.

Norfolk is still dreadful when it comes to mobile signal good enough for data imo, at least my village has been fibre enabled so I can get high speed data at home if I want it.

[BobF64]

Hopefully all of the legal stuff doesn't slow down their implementation of an exchange upgrade for my line.

Depends why you havent been upgraded.

Is your cabinet serving too few lines? Is it not economically viable to actually upgrade it? Is it just mostly phone users? Are locals blocking the upgrade?

These things are unlikely to change, and Openreach is more than likely going to have less money and less interest in upgrading without BT, Sky, Talk Talk etc actively throwing cash at them for speculative upgrades.

[ik9000]

Depends why you havent been upgraded.

Is your cabinet serving too few lines? Is it not economically viable to actually upgrade it? Is it just mostly phone users? Are locals blocking the upgrade?

These things are unlikely to change, and Openreach is more than likely going to have less money and less interest in upgrading without BT, Sky, Talk Talk etc actively throwing cash at them for speculative upgrades.

Really the infrastructure shuold be a state asset with a clear NFP strategy behind it - but this lot currently running the show would baulk at such a view. They'd rather sell it off to the highest bidder then claim innocence when they exploit consumers.

[BobF64]

Really the infrastructure shuold be a state asset with a clear NFP strategy behind it

Don't know about state asset, but definitely should be NFP, even if that means it proves to be expensive from time to time.

Whilst BT has definitely benefited from owning the wiring, its never stopped Virgin (and its predecessors) from installing their own unique network and making profit.

Secondary ISPs, those that arent just selling over BT networks, obviously want to reduce their costs so they can keep their prices low without having to release capital in advance, capital that may take decades to recoup.

Perhaps its time for Openreach to actually do all the upgrading, and properly charge everyone for the costs, including BT.

[peterb]

Whilst BT has definitely benefited from owning the wiring, its never stopped Virgin (and its predecessors) from installing their own unique network and making profit.

In areas where threes a high population density and they can get a fast return on investment - especially has they don't have to provide a maintained 999 service.

its time for Openreach to actually do all the upgrading, and properly charge everyone for the costs, including BT.

Certainly is - but don't expect prices to fall - fibre may be cheap, but installing and maintaining the equipment at each end and maintaining and monitoring the network definitely isn't.