The CEOs of Sky, TalkTalk and Vodafone UK are among a group of U.K. business leaders who have called for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate BT’s infrastructure arm Openreach.
In an open letter published by the Financial Times on Sunday, the companies (see below for the full list of signatories) said that only the CMA can push through the radical reform needed to address what they call "structural barriers" to competition.
"There is an urgent need for increased competition so that alternative providers are encouraged to invest and innovate," the executives said.
Ofcom is in the midst of its Strategic Review of Digital Communications. As part of the process, the regulator has said it will consider whether a full split of Openreach from BT will improve competition, quality of service, and foster more investment in networks.
However, the signatories to Sunday’s open letter are concerned that Ofcom lacks the necessary authority to force a separation of BT and Openreach.
"We do not believe the fundamental problems identified by Ofcom can be addressed by tinkering with the regulatory framework. Ofcom has done a good job of delivering competition on the old copper network, but the powers given to it are insufficient for the new superfast world," they said. "It is therefore crucial that Ofcom moves as quickly as possible to ask the Competition and Markets Authority, with its far reaching powers, to undertake a full market investigation."
BT has repeatedly warned that breaking up the company will result in years of uncertainty, limiting its ability and appetite to invest in new infrastructure.
The U.K. incumbent’s CEO said in a Telegraph report in July that he would postpone network investment and go to court in order to prevent a structural separation.
Full list of signatories:
Chris Bryce, CEO, Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed
Chris Pateman, CEO, Federation of Communication Services
Malcolm Corbett, CEO, Independent Networks Cooperative Association
Simon Walker, director general, Institute of Directors
Jeremy Darroch, CEO, Sky
Dido Haring, CEO, TalkTalk
Jeroen Hoencamp, CEO, Vodafone UK
