Next steps on the journey for a better Openreach
In summer 2016 TalkTalk joined forces with Vodafone, Sky, the Federation of Communication Services and Three to launch a nationwide campaign to encourage businesses to have their say on the future of the UK’s connectivity. We were honoured to have so many of our Partners join us as campaign members and call on Ofcom to take radical steps to Fix Britain’s Internet.
We’ve heard time and time again from Partners and your end customers about the frustrations you have with Openreach, so when Ofcom announced a ten week consultation on whether Openreach should be legally separated from the rest of BT Group, the campaign to Fix Britain’s Internet swung into action.
We are hugely grateful to the Partners who supported us during the campaign. One of the businesses who signed up was XLN Telecom, after facing installation delays and missed engineer appointments, putting their business and reputation at a disadvantage with competitors. Many more of you encouraged colleagues, friends and family members to have their say too.
In November 2016, Ofcom announced that their negotiations with BT had come to nothing and they are pressing ahead with their separation plans by referring the issue to the European Commission. While we would like Ofcom to go further still, and go for full separation, we’re pleased that the regulator has taken a significant step on the journey to a better Openreach and better broadband for everyone.
So what next? We will continue to do everything we can to work with Openreach to increase the speed of new Ethernet connections. Engagement is always the best option, and by changing the way that we work and communicate with Openreach (setting up dedicated contact teams for example), we have already seen better results for our customers.
It has been a privilege to campaign on behalf of our Partner community and listen to your concerns. We would not be in the place we are today without your support. We will continue to put pressure on Ofcom to create a more independent Openreach which works in the interest of all providers, not just BT.
To learn more about how we are collaborating with Openreach to improve service click here.
