British Telecom (BT) is keeping its promise to open its network t...

BT being told to clean up its act or face an antitrust probe, the incumbent “has shown itself committed” to delivering on its undertakings and has achieved several key goals, Ofcom said. These include formation of a new business unit to ensure competitors have the same access to the network as BT’s own businesses. But implementing the “equivalence of access” condition has raised issues, some still unresolved, Ofcom said. They include ensuring that BT’s retail business uses exactly the same broadband product bundle as other ISPs, better service performance for key products like local loop unbundling provisioning and repair and a more customer- oriented approach to wholesale issues such as migrations and new products. The BT conditions are having positive effects on industry, Ofcom said. Infrastructure-based competition seems to be rising in broadband and fixed-voice, with fewer signs of development in fiber-based services. It’s early to assess the full impact of its new regulatory approach, Ofcom said, but consumers are seeing better services, more choice and lower prices. However, some businesses and residential customers are having problems comparing price and quality of communications providers, and large commercial consumers say switching advanced data services is often difficult, Ofcom said. It will focus on consumer experiences in a report to be published in Nov.