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LLU untangles 735,000 lines
But process still knotty with "ongoing concern"...

By David Meyer

Published: Tuesday 05 September 2006

The number of unbundled telephone lines in the UK is nearing three-quarters of a million but the process is still experiencing problems, according to its overseer - telecoms adjudicator Peter Black.

In his latest monthly update, Black put the number of successfully unbundled lines at 735,000.

Local loop unbundling (LLU) is the process whereby competitors to BT are able to install their own equipment in BT's exchanges. This means they don't have to buy wholesale telecoms services from BT, and can potentially offer a wider range of services.

However, Black noted "ongoing concern" over so-called 'singleton' lines - to differentiate from bulk migrations - continuing "to deviate from planned quality levels", adding that "significant improvement has so far failed to materialise".

Bulk migrations were also down due to "specific systems, process and infrastructure problems", although throughput was "expected to increase significantly" from the start of September, he said.

Black added that "some factors" in these rollout issues lay with the operators themselves but much also rested with Openreach - the BT offshoot that recently split from the incumbent in an attempt to ensure a fair telecoms market.

Blaming the August "holidays effect" in part, Black said on Monday "you couldn't fault the commitment of Openreach's senior management team" but added that the scale of LLU meant the problem was "bigger than anybody thought it would be".

A spokeswoman for Openreach said "full recovery plans" are in place to address these issues. She suggested the problems are caused by the increased popularity of LLU and said Openreach is "working with the industry to address them".

She added that Openreach is "on target again" after Black identified certain "supply problems and logistics problems" with backhaul at co-mingling locations, where BT's rivals are allowed to place their equipment in the same part of the local exchange as BT.

The telecoms adjudicator has long warned that operational problems with the delivery of LLU could make it difficult for BT's rivals to plan and launch new services.

He said on Monday: "Although there are more hiccups than I would have liked, we're still keeping the momentum going."

David Meyer writes for ZDNet UK