BT throws toys out of the pram over local loop ruling

BT Wholesale has reacted angrily to the latest announcement from Oftel concerning local loop unbundling.

The telecoms regulator has issued a 60-page proposal obliging BT to sign service level agreements with the companies who site their DSL equipment in BT's exchanges. It also imposes a series of fines on BT for downtime and delays in providing services.

In February, the regulator asked BT to agree service levels with the companies who rent space in its exchanges. Those companies claim BT did nothing, and in May a consortium of operators wrote to Oftel demanding action. Today's announcement is the regulator's response.

BT's regulatory affairs spokesman Ian Morffet attacked the proposal in a statement this morning: "It is not at all surprising that Oftel has decided that rather than leave it to the industry, it should intervene. The only surprise is the rather hectoring tone of the document," he said.

He added: "It's a heavy-handed approach. This is meant to be a consultation but we are unsure whether Oftel has already made its mind up."

This is the angriest reaction yet from BT to an Oftel local loop announcement, suggesting that the regulator may finally be getting tough with the state telco.

However, a BT spokeswoman claims that 14 of the exchanges it has prepared for other companies to lease remain unoccupied, and it is already exceeding the service levels that Oftel has today proposed.

Only 169 local loops have actually been unbundled so far.

Most of the nine companies still participating in the local loop unbundling process were still digesting the contents of the 60-page document when silicon.com called them today.

But Energis told silicon.com it welcomed the proposal, and in a statement said: "These changes should give BT a greater incentive to act in a timely way to provide services to other operators. In this respect, we can at least start to compete on an equal footing allowing us to guarantee a high quality of service to our customers."

David Rivington, director of Strategy at Bulldog Communications, also welcomed the proposal. In particular he welcomed a provision in the report that will force BT to meet all costs if a local loop operator has to relocate its equipment with less than 12 months notice.