Oftel fight back!

Another article, today, in the Financial Times (OK, so I read the pink paper!) stated Oftels notification to
the European Commission of a request to change European Legislation so to effectively delay the unbundling of the Local Loop.

To quote:

‘ The proposed regulation states: “Operators shall by 31 December 2000 at the latest make available to third parties unbundled access to the local loop under transparent, fair and
non-discriminatory conditions.”

But Oftel officials have asked the Commission to alter this key paragraph so that it states: “Operators shall offer to provide within a reasonable timescale unbundled access to third parties on
reasonable request.” ‘

Oftel appear to be trying to make as many enemies as possible, and this could be a vital blow to the Office in the possibility of it being replaced by a broader “Ofcom.”

The ammendment as stated above could prove as a blow to other Telecoms operators in the UK who are pushing to get the date brought FORWARD, as opposed to pushed BACKWARD, to enable true competition
in the market.