Report: BT break-up an option unless investment increases

BT Group is using its control of the UK’s main broadband network, Openreach, to favour its own interests and regulators should consider a break-up unless the company steps up investment and gives rivals better access, a British parliamentary select committee said yesterday.

If BT fails to “offer the reforms and investment assurances necessary to satisfy our concerns, telecommunications regulator Ofcom should move to enforce full separation of Openreach,” the panel said in a report.

Ofcom is expected to issue recommendations for accelerating investment in the country’s broadband grid within days.