Oftel spared in BT bashing by independent telcos

Independent telcos today kept up their fire on BT over network access, but spared Oftel after David Edmonds' roasting yesterday by the Commons select committee.

Mike Grabiner, CEO of Energis, led the charge yesterday with claims that BT's dismemberment did not go far enough and selling only a quarter of the company would not guarantee its independence. He said: "We are very concerned about how BT will treat its own retail arm compared to others." John Docherty, spokesman for Colt, echoed Grabiner's suspicions. He said: "Fundamentally, it's just not far enough. The ideal would be a company completely free of all carriers. Whether that will happen, who knows?" "We have had to drag BT kicking and screaming just to get this far. But we are pleased that Oftel is taking a more aggressive line on this. There is, of course, no formal proposal for this split in front of Oftel," said Keith Monserrat, director of legal and regulation for Scottish carrier Thus. An Energis spokesman added: "Someone has likened the process to BT walking backwards - slowly. We have made a point of not commenting on Oftel. But everyone is doing it for us, including the government." During the committee session yesterday, it was revealed that local loop unbundling was slow because BT did not know the postcodes of its exchanges and therefore could not start the planning process.