Entanet asks if Ofcom should impose forced separation on BT and Openreach

September 1, 2015

Telford, 01 Septembert 2015 – Entanet, the leading channel-focused wholesale communications provider, calls for positive action being taken to force Openreach to deliver higher levels of service – but questions whether Ofcom should impose a forced separation between the company and BT.

In the article, Neil Watson, Head of Service at Entanet, says that his company does believe that the companies do need to be made more accountable and Openreach must be made to up its game. “The current levels of service are simply not acceptable and a more effective solution needs to be found for the good of the whole industry”, he states.

At present, he says, all communications providers receive equally poor levels of service from Openreach and that it does appear to favour other BT companies in some situations. Watson dismisses BT’s assertion that any enforced separation from Openreach would threaten investment as “questionable” and points out that the company is continuing to plough millions into buying the rights to sporting events.

One alternative to a complete division, he suggests, is for Openreach to be hit with financial penalties if it does not perform to acceptable standards. “What we really need is effective economic sanctions to improve provision and repair times for all customers. As an industry, we need Openreach to be held to account for the poor service experienced by the multitude of CPs forced to use its services. We need improved install and fix times, with meaningful Service Level Guarantee payments for delays and clear and effective escalation paths that actually provide a suitable resolution at the end.”

This, he argues, might focus Openreach on delivering a higher level of service than the industry currently experiences. At present, providers are unable to put any real pressure on the organisation and the rules that attempt to impose ‘equivalence’ only forces service levels to be driven down to the lowest common denominator which, Watson says, “simply isn’t acceptable.”

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About Entanet
Entanet is a leading wholesale voice and data communications provider and operates via a network of wholesale and resale channel partners. It was founded in 1996 and employs over 80 staff at its offices in Telford, Shropshire.

In February 2014, mid-market equity investor Mobeus Equity Partners made an initial £6 million investment to support a £14 million management buyout.

Entanet offers an extensive portfolio of connectivity services, including wholesale and packaged broadband, leased lines, EFM, IP VPNs, hosting and co-location, VoIP and traditional telecoms. The company operates its own fully-resilient nationwide next generation network which enables it and its partners to provide up to 10Gbps capacity to customers right across the UK. In addition, it has further connectivity into Amsterdam and Frankfurt and over 900 peering relationships across Europe.

The quality of Entanet’s services and its commitment to partners has been widely recognised. The company was recently named ‘Wholesale Provider of the Year (Large)’ in the 2015 Comms Business Awards and received the 2015 ISPA award for ‘Best SME Business Broadband’ and CRN Sales and Marketing Award for ‘Best Vendor Account Management Team’. The company has also been listed on a number of occasions in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100, Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA and other listings of fast-growing, privately-held UK companies.

For more information contact:
Darren Farnden, Head of Marketing
Entanet International Ltd
Tel: 0333 101 0000