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Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone, FCS launch ‘Fix Britain’s Internet’ campaign.
Three U.K. telcos and an industry association this week encouraged consumers to lobby Ofcom and MPs for a full separation of BT and its networks business Openreach.
The group, comprised of Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone and the Federation of Communication Services (FCS) on Wednesday launched the ‘Fix Britain’s Internet’ campaign. Visitors to its Website are provided with an email template calling on Ofcom CEO Sharon White to "be bold" by splitting BT and Openreach.
The campaign was launched a day after Ofcom made several proposals aimed at making Openreach more independent from its parent BT. The telco watchdog has stopped short of recommending a full structural separation of the two.
Fix Britain’s Internet also comes hot on the heels of a report by a committee of MPs that accused BT of underinvesting in Openreach.
"Slapping a fresh coat of paint on the ship and re-arranging the deckchairs won’t help when the crew’s all working to rule," said FCS chief executive Chris Pateman.
"Ofcom’s proposals simply don’t go far enough, and we know many people up and down the country feel the same way," added TalkTalk CEO Dido Harding, in a statement on Wednesday.
"For too long, U.K. businesses have been let down by the nation’s broadband infrastructure, receiving poor speeds and even poorer service. How is the U.K. economy supposed to grow and compete with the rest of the world with one hand tied behind its back by failing broadband?" she asked.
TalkTalk said the campaign is aimed at giving consumers and businesses their say on the future of U.K. broadband.
"This is a once-in-a-decade opportunity for them to tell the regulator directly they don’t want a halfway house for another decade, they want truly radical change now," Harding said.
