By Ian Walker
LONDON--Ofcom, the U.K. telecoms regulator, said Friday BT Group
PLC (BT.A.LN) must give competitors physical access to its
fiber-optic cables and proposes new, minimum quality of service
performance requirements on Openreach.
In addition, Ofcom said Openreach must meet the original
installation dates it promises customers in 80% of cases by 2016,
and then 90% by 2018.
"Since 2011, the average time between a customer's order and the
line being ready has increased from 40 to 46 working days. The
first new quality of service rule would require Openreach to return
this average to 40 working days by 2017, and maintain it
thereafter," the regulator said.
Openreach is BT's unit that installs and maintains connections
to BT's network on behalf of competing providers.
"Today's proposals should help businesses across the U.K. who
rely on high-speed data lines. We want to see more innovation,
faster installations and more competition, by providing operators
with the opportunity to deploy the technologies of their choice,"
Ofcom Competition Group Director Jonathan Oxley said.
The measures are part of Ofcom's business connectivity market
and are subject to consultation which closes on July 31. Ofcom
expects to publish its final decisions in the first quarter of
2016, taking effect in April 2016.
Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com; @IanWalk40289749
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires