Watchdog slams BT over broadband repairs
By Stuart Turton
Posted on 8 Oct 2007 at 13:33
BT Openreach is still failing to hit repair targets on unbundled broadband lines, the Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator reveals.
In his September update, Peter Black, executive chairman of the watchdog, notes that, while the UK has hit a "significant milestone" in unbundling 3.195 million lines, "the underlying failure rate for mainstream repair performance continues at an unacceptably high level (15-25%), substantially short of agreed targets."
"Getting the right person, to the right place at the right time is one of the most difficult things to do and it [Openreach] was starting from a low base," Peter Black tells PC Pro.
"There's plans afoot to fix things. BT's shown us those plans and though I would have liked something to have happened by now, we're hoping to see progress [targets met] by the middle of next year."
Black calls current Openreach service levels a "plateau" which will require focus from the company to hit the agreed target levels.
However, the adjudicator also notes the Right First Time delivery figure, which measures whether customers are getting the service they were promised at the point of sale, has improved a couple of percent from August, rising to 94%, though still some way under the industry target of 98%.
"We would all like to see those levels improve and maybe things are not improving as quickly as we would have liked," says a BT spokesperson. "But there's a huge amount of work going on. We're confident things will get better."
Local loop unbundling is the process which allows BT's competitors to install their own equipment in its exchanges, affording them the opportunity to manage their own lines and offer new services. Companies including Sky, Tiscali and Orange have all invested heavily in LLU, which has seen UK broadband subscriptions soar.
From around the web
how to complain about BT?
what is the best way to complain about BT with regards to complaints that fall on deaf ears. (a watchdog or regulating body please)
I have been complaining for more that a week and time after time they promise to call me or send an engineer out etc.
I get absolutely no help/service from them.
I cannot use my internet at all due to a confirmed fault on their exchange which they now seem to just ignore.
I spend on average 2 hours a day on the phone with BT customer service (me calling them as they won't follow the call up) and I get passed from department to department, repeating my story over and over. I cannot simply cancel my broadband as I'm going traveling in 2 months and no one else would sign me up for such a short duration.
Apart from this BT has "accidently" tied me into a new 12 month contract (during one of my complaint calls) which I've asked them to look into so that they can see for themselves that I've never agreed to a renewal.
I am so fed up of BT and their India call centres that simply read scripts from a screen and cannot understand my frustrations!
Please help me find a watchdog or regulation company who can help me resolve these issues.
By andy123 on 5 Jul 2011 ![]()
advertisement
- Chrome's shine getting lost in translation
- BytePac: the cardboard hard disk enclosure
- How tech loosens our grip on reality
- Hokum watch: Safer Internet Day
- Why I'm deleting Adobe from my PC
- Prepare to be patronised: it's Safer Internet Day
- Dear Sony, Samsung and every other tech company in the world: stop trying to be Apple
- Will Apple's Final Cut Pro X update placate the pros?
- Smartr Contacts for iPhone review
- Switching to Office 365's Outlook Web App
- ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite
- Webroot Internet Security Essentials
- Trend Micro Internet Security
- PC Tools Internet Security 2009
- Panda Internet Security 2009
- Norton Internet Security 2009
- Kaspersky Internet Security 2009
- F-Secure Internet Security 2009
- AVG Internet Security 8
- BullGuard Internet Security 8.5
advertisement
