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| BT should be forced to sell Openreach service, report says | BT should be forced to sell Openreach service, report says |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| BT should be forced to sell the country's leading broadband provider because of poor performance, a report backed by 121 cross-party MPs has said. | BT should be forced to sell the country's leading broadband provider because of poor performance, a report backed by 121 cross-party MPs has said. |
| The report, commissioned by ex-Tory chairman Grant Shapps, said BT's Openreach service had only partially extended superfast broadband despite £1.7bn of government money. | The report, commissioned by ex-Tory chairman Grant Shapps, said BT's Openreach service had only partially extended superfast broadband despite £1.7bn of government money. |
| It should be sold off to increase competition, the report added. | It should be sold off to increase competition, the report added. |
| BT said Britain had better broadband provision than most EU countries. | BT said Britain had better broadband provision than most EU countries. |
| Openreach, a BT subsidiary, operates the main system of cables which connect homes and businesses to the internet. | Openreach, a BT subsidiary, operates the main system of cables which connect homes and businesses to the internet. |
| Mr Shapps's report suggested 400,000 small and medium sized companies still did not have access to superfast broadband, and more than five million people were receiving unacceptable download speeds. | |
| It said "little" would change unless BT and Openreach were formally separated, as at present Openreach "makes vast profits and finds little reason to invest in the network, install new lines or even fix faults in a properly timely manner". | |
| The report suggested underinvestment - which Mr Shapps said stemmed from the "natural monopoly" of BT and Openreach - was holding the UK back and costing the economy £11bn a year. | |
| 'Wrong-headed' | 'Wrong-headed' |
| "We deserve better. We should be leading the world on digital investment and innovation," the report said. | "We deserve better. We should be leading the world on digital investment and innovation," the report said. |
| "Instead we have a company that clings to outdated copper technology with no long-term plan for the future." | "Instead we have a company that clings to outdated copper technology with no long-term plan for the future." |
| BT said the UK was "repeatedly" ranked as having the EU's best broadband speeds, and said 90% of UK premises can access fibre optic connections. | |
| "The idea that there would be more broadband investment if BT's Openreach infrastructure division became independent is wrong-headed," the company added. | |
| "As a smaller, weaker, standalone company, it would struggle to invest as much as it does currently." | |
| Case study | |
| Ross Arnold, director of the Stickleback Fish Company, said the firm moved to new premises near Hatfield in Hertfordshire but found the internet speed was "catastrophic". | |
| "We actually couldn't work in the office," he said. | |
| "So then we went about trying to... upgrade that and we didn't actually realise it wasn't as easy as we thought. | |
| "We looked at installing satellites and various radio systems but eventually we had to go back to BT and they had to run an actual lease line from wherever the exchange is to our premises." | |
| He said he was "aghast" to find the cost was "10 times the amount we were paying before". | |
| "You can't do business in 2016 without high-speed internet," he added. | |
| A spokesman for Department of Culture, Media and Sport said 95% of the UK would have access to superfast broadband by next year, so the report was "misleading". | A spokesman for Department of Culture, Media and Sport said 95% of the UK would have access to superfast broadband by next year, so the report was "misleading". |
| The UK government has promised that internet providers will be legally obliged to provide broadband speeds of 10 megabits per second to everyone who wants it by 2020. | The UK government has promised that internet providers will be legally obliged to provide broadband speeds of 10 megabits per second to everyone who wants it by 2020. |
| In December, Ofcom chief executive Sharon White said it was unacceptable that 2.5 million homes still did not have access to this. | In December, Ofcom chief executive Sharon White said it was unacceptable that 2.5 million homes still did not have access to this. |
| Ofcom completed the first phase of its digital communications review in the summer and is expected to report its recommendations next year. | Ofcom completed the first phase of its digital communications review in the summer and is expected to report its recommendations next year. |