Delivering a more independent Openreach

Statement published 13 July 2017

On 10 March 2017, BT notified Ofcom of voluntary commitments to further reform Openreach. This means that Openreach will become a distinct company with its own staff, management, purpose and strategy.

We consider that the Commitments given by BT sufficiently address the competition concerns as set out in our Strategic Review of Digital Communications. In March 2017 we published a consultation proposing that BT should be released from the Undertakings that it offered to Ofcom in 2005 under which Openreach was originally created.

This statement confirms our decision to release BT from the Undertakings once the new Commitments are fully in place. This document also explains how we will measure compliance with the new arrangements and assess whether they deliver positive outcomes for consumers and businesses.