The process of handing over lines is very complex

Regulator Ofcom has forced BT to open up its exchanges to rivals to give the UK a more competitive broadband market.

When the telecoms giant has handed over 1.5 million lines, it will be allowed to cut broadband prices.

BT's handling of the process - known as local loop unbundling - has been criticised by some broadband providers.

Slow start

By helping to release its stranglehold on the UK broadband market, BT will earn the right to reduce prices.

This should be good news for consumers and will allow it to compete with cut-price offers from the likes of firms such as Carphone Warehouse which already takes advantage of local loop unbundling (LLU).

Openreach is systematically failing to deliver the right levels of service to ourselves and other players in the marketplace John Pluthero Cable & Wireless

The LLU process is important because it gives rivals to BT control of the last mile of copper wire which runs from telephone exchanges to homes, allowing them to offer faster, cheaper and more innovative broadband services.

BT said that reaching one million unbundled lines puts the UK at the forefront of broadband innovation.

"This is a fantastic achievement for the whole of the industry and demonstrates that the UK has one of the most competitive broadband markets in the world," said Steve Robertson, chief executive of BT Openreach, a spin-off company set up by BT to deal with the process of LLU.

BT's triumphant declaration that the process is now a success has been met with caution by experts who have witnessed the tortuously slow process begun by Ofcom's predecessor Oftel in 2000.

The slow start to LLU means the UK is well behind countries such as France, where broadband users are already enjoying speeds of up to 24Mbps (megabits per second) as standard.

BT's failings

According to Openreach , it is currently fulfilling around 30,000 LLU orders per week, with more than twenty operators providing unbundled services from more than a thousand telephone exchanges around the UK.

But not everyone is happy with the work being done.

"Openreach is systematically failing to deliver the right levels of service to ourselves and other players in the marketplace," said John Pluthero, head of Cable & Wireless' UK business.

Openreach has had to borrow 150 engineers from another of BT's divisions to cope with demand and is currently launching a recruitment drive for a further 400 telecoms apprentices.

In separate news, Ofcom has announced a boost for broadband fixed wireless services by opening up more spectrum bands - 71-76GHz and 81-86GHz.

The spectrum will be licensed in the spring of 2007.

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