Achieve Equality Without the Structural Separation of BT
Tuesday 19th April 2005
The Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA UK) – the UK’s leading Internet trade association - believes Ofcom can achieve equality of access to BT’s networks without the structural separation of BT.
ISPA met with Ofcom on the 13th April to further discuss equality of access, and ISPA’s concerns following BT’s Phase Two response to the Strategic Review of Telecoms. The regulator is due to report back in June 2005.
ISPA believes that BT must demonstrate it is serious about equivalence by establishing equality of access at the product level and introducing evident behavioural change. BT must become more open and transparent to allay industry fears of any potential abuse of market power.
If equivalence is to be achieved, all BT’s internal and external ISP customers must be serviced in exactly the same way with exactly the same products. This demands equality of access to information, service features, provisioning and pricing.
ISPA believes that possible changes, short of the full structural separation of BT could include:
- the physical separation of BT’s different divisions so they operate out of different locations.
- the different divisions of BT reporting to the BT Board through separate channels.
- focused regulation at the highest level of the organisation delivering consequent de-regulation further down the line.
BT responded to Ofcom’s Phase One review proposing significant organisational changes including the creation of a new Access Services Division. ISPA welcomes these proposals but insists that any changes must deliver genuine equivalence if BT is to avoid a full and complete structural separation.
If behavioral change is not forthcoming and areas of BT were able to gain an unfair advantage at the expense of competition, ISPA believes it would be appropriate for Ofcom to make a reference under section 131 of the Enterprise Act. Such a move would result in the total structural separation of the BT group.
Mrs Hendrie-Liaño, Chair of ISPA Council said, “BT must be accountable. If evident change is not forthcoming and competition continues to be restricted and distorted, Ofcom‘s last resort should be to reference BT under Section 131 of the Enterprise Act. The breakup of BT would cause the industry significant disruption and must be avoided if at all possible.”
“It must be recognized that whilst evident behavioral change within BT is necessary to achieve equality of access, change takes time. It certainly won’t come overnight.”
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Notes to Editors
The views expressed in this release are those of the Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA UK) and do not necessarily reflect the corporate policies of the individual companies that are members of the Association or other organisations that may be mentioned in the release.
For further information, please contact the ISPA Press Office. Email: pressoffice@ispa.org.uk Tel: 020 7340 4535
About the Internet Services Providers’ Association
The Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA) was established in 1995 as a trade association to represent providers of Internet services in the UK. ISPA promotes competition, self-regulation and the development of the Internet industry. For a list of members or other information about ISPA, please consult the website: www.ispa.org.uk