
Ofcom?s report, which instructed BT to open up its Openreach broadband network to rival operators, is a direct consequence of what can happen when you are the only player on the pitch.
Of course, you?ll bang in the goals all day long because there?s no one to stop you. But when there?s no competition you will lose your edge, become complacent and not play to your best. It looks like that?s what?s happened at BT because no one, be it consumer or business, has been able to push it into raising its game. As a result, as the many news reports bore out with reams of anecdotal evidence, large areas of the country experience slow internet speeds and, on the whole, generally poor customer service. That in itself is not a surprise because Openreach is not, in gobbledegook management-speak, “customer facing” ? do any of its vans actually display a phone number or, ironically, a web address? So, to deal with an internet problem customers have to go to providers, which if it?s not BT, leaves businesses and the public with three degrees of separation away from those which have the power to install, connect or repair a broadband connection. Now Ofcom has finally said what most of us knew already about Openreach?s monopoly of broadband infrastructure ? others can enter the market, which can only improve the service customers receive?And that is the plus-side of competition. It brings out the best in entrepreneurs; it keeps them on their toes and more determined to succeed. Read more from Charlie Mullins:- The gender pay gap is something that defies all logic
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