Ofcom chief refuses to be intimidated by BT
Sharon White is not intimidated by the threat of a 10-year legal wrangle with BT
The new chief of Ofcom, Sharon White, has warned BT that she is not "easily intimidated" by the threat of a 10-year legal battle with the telecoms giant over the potential separation of BT and its infrastructure arm Openreach.
Gavin Patterson, BT's chief executive, recently claimed that a forced separation of BT and Openreach could lead to "10 years of litigation and arguments".
Ofcom is deciding whether it will make BT separate its businesses in order to make the telecoms market more competitive. White (pictured) insisted that her team will not be swayed by comments made by BT.
"I can't say I'm easily intimidated, our drive is ‘what's going to be the best possible deal for the consumer?'" she said.
A discussion paper from Ofcom, published after the regulator completed the first stage of its review which it started in March, suggests that BT should be split in two
BT's rivals such as Sky and TalkTalk have consistently complained that BT Openreach is inefficient and does not install broadband or new lines quickly enough. It is also slow to fix faults, they say.
Ofcom said that a fully independent Openreach business "would remove BT's underlying incentive to discriminate against competitors".
It added: "It may also increase Openreach's management focus on, and control over, network investment decisions and performance issues".
However, such a decision is likely to involve much deliberation as Ofcom admitted there were "substantial implementation challenges".
It added that the process may not address some concerns relating to Openreach - such as service quality - or the timing and level of investment decisions.
BT is also facing scrutiny from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for its £12.5bn takeover of mobile operator EE.