Ofcom has published an evaluation paper assessing the progress made after its Strategic Review of Telecommunications and the Undertakings agreed to by BT as part of the final settlement in 2005.

Ofcom’s report is an evaluation of the impact of the Telecoms Review on the fixed telecoms market to date. Ofcom have stated that a document looking more widely at consumers’ experiences will be published next month.

Ofcom believes BT has made significant and positive progress in the following areas:

The formation of Openreach; a new business unit operating the access and backhaul network with around 30,000 employees drawn together from BT Wholesale, BT Retail and outside of BT

The implementation of key aspects necessary to achieve operational separation of Openreach, such as a new leadership team, a new brand rolled out across the organisation and vehicle fleet, new account management, a separate operating model and a new remuneration model

The development and launch of a new platform (the equivalence management platform) to interface with external customers and with other parts of BT on an equivalent basis;

Improvements in some areas of service performance such as on Backhaul Extension Circuits (BES ) circuits and co-mingling, which with other measures, has helped Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) to reach close to one million lines

Implementation across other parts of BT of new organisational structures, improved transparency, and implementation of new codes of practices and Chinese Walls; and
establishment of the Equality of Access Board (EAB) which has, and is continuing to, build

Ofcom believe further progress is required in the following areas:

Continuing and rapid improvements in the capabilities and quality of the equivalence management platform, the operational support system which underpins the delivery of equivalence by Openreach.

A move to BT’s retail business using exactly the same IPStream product bundle as other ISPs. This will begin to be achieved from January 2008 when a revised IPStream product is launched and the new 21st Century Network (21CN) product wholesale broadband connect is rolled out.

A pricing strategy for Openreach’s wholesale ethernet product portfolio in which the availability of end-to-end products does not undermine the application of equivalence to unbundled Ethernet access and backhaul, or reduce incentives for deep infrastructure competition.

Further significant and sustained improvements in the service performance for key Openreach products such as BES, Wholesale Extension Service (WES) and LLU provisioning and repair, and co-mingling delivery.

Progress towards introduction of a fit-for-purpose Wholesale Line Rental 3 (WLR3) product that is robust enough for both BT Retail and competitors to use.

Resolution of various boundary issues between Openreach and BT Wholesale, such that planning activities which span the two divisions of BT are carried out in an efficient manner, but without compromising the delivery of equivalence. Examples include planning activities for SDH and Ethernet private circuits, and space and services in local exchanges.

A more proactive, transparent and customer focussed approach and culture to addressing wholesale customer issues such as migrations processes, new products and other developments.

Agreement on a roadmap for operational separation of Management Information Systems (MIS) and Operational Support Systems (OSS) systems.