BT, Ofcom Reach Agreement Over Openreach Governance
March 10 2017 - 2:53AM
Dow Jones News
By Tapan Panchal
LONDON--BT Group PLC (BT.A.LN) said Friday it had reached an
agreement with the U.K.'s Office of Communications, or Ofcom, that
will see its infrastructure division, Openreach, becoming a legally
separate company with its own board and management.
Ofcom has been pursuing the legal separation of Openreach on
competition grounds. BT has said keeping control of Openreach,
which runs the country's network of telecom lines, is key to
investment in broadband infrastructure.
The British telecommunications group said around 32,000
employees will transfer to the new Openreach Ltd. once their
pension arrangements are in place. Openreach Chief Executive Clive
Selley will report to Openreach Chairman Mike McTighe and will be
accountable to BT Group Chief Executive Gavin Patterson in regard
to certain legal and fiduciary duties consistent with BT's
responsibilities as a stock-listed company, BT Group added.
"We have listened to criticism of our business and as a result
are willing to make fundamental changes to the way Openreach will
work in the future," said Mr. Patterson.
Write to Tapan Panchal at tapan.panchal@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 10, 2017 02:38 ET (07:38 GMT)
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