BT chief blames Oftel for DSL hell

BTopenworld chief executive Andy Green has slammed Oftel for protecting smaller DSL providers and claimed the regulator has slowed down BT's own DSL rollout.

He told silicon.com: "Only five people will really make broadband work in the UK: BT, NTL, Telewest, AOL and Freeserve."

"We need to get the regulation cleaner... Oftel is protecting a lot of people who aren't going to move the game forward."

Green claimed that the smaller DSL players who attempted to provide broadband services to business customers through an unbundled local loop would have a hard time staying competitive.

He added: "It's tougher than people think to tap the business market alone. You need make sure [DSL-enabled exchanges are at or near capacity] to make it profitable, and the only way to do that is to blend the elasticity of business and consumer customer bases."

Nigel Pitcher of DSL player Fibernet refuted the suggestion that there was no future for other DSL companies in the market.

"I think Andy Green is consumed with a religious focus on the consumer market," he said.

"We're not providing a go-faster modem here. We're trying to take the premium voice services you can only get with a leased line down to the small and medium-sized business market."

A spokeswoman for Oftel said: "We are here to provide a level playing field, and when we have done that it is up to the market to determine how many players are left.

"From our point of view, the more players there are in the market, the better, as that provides more choice for the consumer."