This fact sheet outlines the background to Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) and gives an update on current progress. It has been designed to answer the most frequently asked questions on LLU. The current progress is summarised on a monthly basis. This is followed by a series of Annexes which give detail on what LLU is and are designed to answer the most frequently asked questions.

Contents

Current progress – an update of the major advances over the past month.

Annex A

Annex B - History of LLU

Annex C - Legal Framework for LLU

Annex D - Pricing of LLU

Annex E - Statistics

Annex F- Consumer questions and answers

Annex G- Glossary of terms

Annex H - Completed cases

Progress update

May 2002

This update reports progress made with Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) since the last update in April . It is not a complete overview of the LLU process, but gives a snapshot of the current issues.

Since the last update, one distant location site and 12 physical co-location sites have been completed. Work is continuing at 19 physical and six distant location sites. In total, 68 physical and 46 distant location sites have now been completed.

Current state of the LLU rollout

1. Trial sites

Work on the trial sites for the new in-curtilage (where operators locate their equipment outside of the exchange building but inside the exchange grounds) and co-mingling options continue.

2. Co-location at BT's exchanges

At the end of April 2002, 68 sites have been completed and construction is underway at a further 19 exchanges.

Since the last update, work has been completed at the following 12 sites:

Details of the other 56 completed sites can be found in Annex E - Statistics

Work continues at the following 19 sites:

During April, BT received requests to survey 14 sites for co-mingling facilities.

3. Distant location

Work has been completed at Harlesden and is ongoing at the following six distant location sites:

Bury
Manchester Central
Marylebone (London)
Moorgate (London)
Sale
Soho (London)

The details of the 46 completed distant location sites can be found in Annex E - Statistics.

4. Oftel Investigations

Co-mingling

The investigation into the mechanisms employed by BT when setting prices for co-mingling, continues.

Annex A

What is Local Loop Unbundling

Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) is the process where the incumbent operator (BT and Kingston in the UK) makes its local network (the copper cables that run from customers premises to the telephone exchange) available to other companies. Operators are then able to upgrade individual lines using DSL technology to offer services such as always on high speed Internet access, direct to the customer.

Types of access

For LLU, operators have the choice of a number of options for gaining access to the local loop.

Physical space within the incumbent’s site

BT offers operators several options for co-location within its exchanges. The location of an operator’s equipment in a site can either be within:

• a hostel, (a room that is built to a standard design to house a number of operators)
• The basic unit of capacity of a hostel is the "equipment bay".
• In the standard hostel arrangement the unit of space is a three rack bay which has a footprint of 1.8m x 0.8m and a total area, including circulation space, of 10m².
• This area is separate from the incumbent’s operations.
• a mini hostel (where less than four operators wish to share space within the exchange)
• a co-mingling facility (where an operator’s equipment is fitted and operated in the same area in an exchange as BT houses its own equipment without any physical separation)
• a bespoke arrangement (where the operator has non standard requirements)
• an in-curtilege facility (where operators locate their equipment outside of the exchange building but inside the exchange grounds e.g. in a car park).

Distant Co- Location

Another option available to operators is distant location. This is where the operator houses its equipment away from the incumbent’s building and uses a tie cable to connect the incumbent’s exchange with this remote site. The remote site can be a building or a ‘green cabinet’ on the side of a road.

Shared Access and Sub-loop unbundling

The EU Regulation on LLU requires incumbents to offer shared access (or line sharing). Line sharing enables operators and the incumbent to share the same line. Consumers can acquire data services from an operator while retaining the voice services of the incumbent. Some operators may choose to offer data services only, so with line sharing consumers can retain their BT service for voice calls while getting higher bandwidth services from another operator without needing to install a second line.

The EU Regulation also requires that other operators can interconnect with the local access network at a point between the incumbent’s site and the end user. This arrangement is referred to as sub-loop unbundling. In sub loop unbundling the connection point is the primary connection points (PCP’s), which are the green street cabinets. Sub-loop unbundling can be used for emerging technologies such as VDSL where the equipment needs to be much closer to the home to deliver very high bandwidth services. An optical fibre would deliver the high-speed services to the local green cabinet and VDSL used to send them along the copper pair to the consumer’s premises.

Full unbundling - before

 Each pair of copper wires run from the customer’s home to the primary connection point (PCP). The PCPs are the cabinets that are located at the side of the road. The PCP connects the wires from the customer’s home to a pair of wires from the exchange. Inside the exchange the wires in the external cable are terminated on the main distribution frame (MDF) and then are connected to the internal exchange equipment.

Full unbundling - After

Inside the exchange the wires are connected to the MDF. They are then connected via an internal tie cable from the MDF to the handover distribution frame (HDF) which is adjacent to the OLO’s equipment. The HDF (Handover Distribution Frame) is used to terminate the cable from the exchange and to make the pairs available to the operator.

Distant Co-Location

Distant co-location is a form of unbundling where the operator’s equipment is located in a building outside of the incumbent’s exchange.

A tie cable is used to connect the MDF at the local exchange to the HDF at the distant site, but in this case an external tie cable is used.

Line Sharing

 Line sharing is a form of local loop unbundling where the incumbent and other licensed operator share the same line.

From the MDF the wires are connected to a splitter (which separates the frequencies for voice telephony and those for higher bandwidth services). The incumbent provides voice telephony over the lower frequency portion of the line, while another operator provides DSL services over the high frequency portion of the same line.

Sub-loop unbundling

Sub-loop unbundling is a form of unbundling where the line is handed over to the other operator outside of the telephone exchange.

  The equipment that transfers the incumbent’s line to the other operator is adjacent to the PCP (the cabinet by the side of the road) rather than the telephone exchange. This arrangement will be used for distributing very high bandwidth services, which can only be sent a short distance on the copper pair.

Annex B

History

In November 1999, Oftel issued a statement, Access to Bandwidth: Delivering Competition for the Information Age, which set out its decision to require BT to make its local loop available to other operators. This followed a 12-month consultation.

The Statement set out Oftel’s conclusion that the opening up of the local loop was necessary to introduce competition into the provision of higher bandwidth services such as high speed always on Internet access and video on demand. The introduction of competition into this area should mean a wider range of services to consumers and better value for money.

The statement also concluded that local loops should be available at cost based prices (which Oftel would determine). The requirement for BT to provide loops would be through a licence condition to be inserted in BT’s licence (see Annex C). Oftel would conduct a policy review of the position on LLU after four years and then at two yearly intervals. The statement also set out Oftel’s approach to BT’s wholesale ADSL service.

Business as usual

In February 2001 the Bow Wave process (a demand management process which aimed to ensure that sites were prepared in the order of operators’ collective priorities) was suspended as BT has sufficient capacity to deal with 100 co-location and 100 distant locations each month. After taking operators’ current forecasts into account, BT concluded that it could meet this demand. From April 2001 operators are able to place orders on a ‘business as usual’ basis with BT. This means that operators will be able to place orders for co-location at any of BT’s exchanges and can submit orders anytime they wish. This is similar to how operators now order wholesale products such as interconnection from BT.

Annex C

Legal framework for LLU

A new condition (Condition 83) was inserted into BT's licence in April 2000. Condition 83 came into effect on 8 August 2000.

Condition 83 sets out the co-location products BT must offer, the conditions which apply to the supply of these products and unbundled loops, how the prices will be set and how disputes can be resolved.

In September 2000, Oftel published guidelines on the application of condition 83. These can be found by clicking here

The EC Regulation on Local Loop Unbundling

The EC Regulation on Local Loop Unbundling (EC/2887/2000) came into force on 2 January 2001. The Regulation requires incumbent operators throughout Europe to offer unbundled access to their local loops on reasonable request. Condition 83 sits alongside the Regulation and provides the detail, which may be needed to ensure that the Regulation can be applied effectively in the UK. The text of the Regulation can be found at: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/lif/dat/2000/en_300R2887.html

As well as mandating local loop unbundling, the Regulation also requires the incumbents to offer shared access and sub-loop unbundling (described in Annex A). Both BT and Kingston have published reference offers, as required under the Regulation. The BT reference offer can be found at http://www.btinterconnect.com while the Kingston offer is at: http://www.kingston-comms.com/reg-unbundle.html.

ANF Agreement determination

In September 2000, Oftel was asked to investigate certain conditions in the Access Network Facilities (ANF) Agreement, the contract which operators need to sign to take LLU facilities. As a result of the investigation, Oftel published a draft determination on 23 November 2000 detailing the areas of disagreement and some preliminary views. On February 21st 2001, the final determination was published. The determination includes the following measures: operators will be able to trade space in exchanges with each other, BT will have to pay compensation to operators if service levels are not met, operators can refer disputes about LLU to an independent expert, and BT's and operators' liabilities were capped. The full text of the determination can be found here.

Service level agreements (SLAs)

SLAs set out the timescales within which BT is required to provide the various elements necessary for LLU service. During May 2001, a group of operators participating in the LLU process asked Oftel to decide a dispute between them and BT in respect of SLAs.

On 15 November 2001 (following a consultation), Oftel published a final statement and direction setting out the service levels that BT must offer to operators. BT must pay compensation if it fails to meet the service levels set out in the document. For example, BT is required to pay £10 for each working day an unbundled loop is unavailable and £80 per operator for each working day’s delay in providing co-location facilities. The full text of the statement and direction can be found here:

Annex D

Pricing of LLU

Background

In May 2000, Oftel published a consultation document proposing prices for operators leasing unbundled loops. Access to Bandwidth: Indicative prices and pricing principles, can be found here

The key principles when setting prices are that the price of the loop will be cost oriented, the starting charges should be geographically averaged and that BT should be able to recover the costs associated with setting up co-location facilities.

Wholesale prices

On 29 December 2000, Oftel published the final wholesale prices to be applied. Oftel’s statement can be found here

Operators taking an unbundled loop from BT will pay £122 p.a. plus a connection charge of £88. Oftel has also set the charges for the internal tie cables that connect the loops in exchanges to operators’ equipment or to the external tie cables in the case of distant co-location. For every 100 lines, the rental charge will be £21 p.a. plus a connection charge of £863. The connection charge for distant location cables will be £674, to which a per-occasion charge of £142, required to cover the set-up and costs of jointing the distant location internal tie cables to the external one, has to be added. This charge is paid only once per order of distant location internal tie cables.

Oftel has not determined a price for co-location facilities within BT’s exchanges. This is because each exchange requires a custom design to accommodate the required number of operators in the co-location options they have chosen. The price for co-location is set by BT after a full design has been undertaken. Operators can ask Oftel to determine prices for co-location facilities if any costs are disputed.

In March 2002, Oftel published a final direction setting out the charges for MPFs (loops) and internal tie cables (a cable that contains 100 metallic pairs that allow the connection between the unbundled loops and the operator’s equipment) that will apply from 31 March. Oftel directed that as the market for the provision of LLU services has not developed as quickly as originally anticipated, the price controls set out in the 2000 Determination will continue in force, until otherwise directed. The Director plans a review of regulatory provisions in the first half of 2003 (in accordance with the new European directives).

Shared access

During October 2001, Oftel issued a direction imposing changes to BT’s prices for shared access. Oftel has set an annual rental of £53 plus a one off connection charge of £117 per shared loop. These are lower than the charges proposed by Oftel in June and the rental charge is below the EU average. The full text of the direction can be found here

Site clearance

Oftel has confirmed that BT must not charge operators separately for clearing a site in preparation for co-location build in its exchanges, but must recover these costs through the rent charged for co-location space. The final direction on site clearance costs can be found here

Pricing investigation

During October 2001, Oftel’s investigation into the pricing of BT’s co-location services was concluded. In general the prices were found to be cost-oriented. However some prices were found to be too high. Oftel’s statement on the conclusion of the investigation is here

In January 2002, Oftel directed that BT must reduce the prices that were found to be too high as part of the October investigation (i.e. external tie cable rental and escorted access costs). The text of this final direction can be found here

Backhaul

Backhaul is the link between operator’s equipment at a BT exchange and an operator’s point of interconnection with BT’s own network. A draft direction proposing that BT be required to provide backhaul services at a cost oriented price was issued on 17 December 2001. Oftel is currently considering the responses received. The text of the consultation can be found here

Annex E

Statistics

General information about LLU

Total number of MDF sites in the UK Approx. 5,600

Number of fixed lines in the UK Approx. 35,000,000

Number of BT provided lines 28,900,000

Number of loops connected: 300+

Up to date information on the progress of DSL is contained in the ADSL factsheet which is updated monthly. Click here to go to the ADSL factsheet

Physical co-location sites - completed (68 in total)

Physical co-location sites in build (19 in total)

Distant location sites completed (46 in total)

Distant location sites in build

Bury
Manchester Central
Marylebone (London)
Moorgate (London)
Sale
Soho (London)

Annex F

Consumer questions and answers

1 How could I benefit from LLU?

LLU will enable you to have a high-speed data connection for internet or video on demand delivered through your telephone line. A number of operators are expected to offer these services. In addition, the option may exist for you to continue to use BT as your provider of telephony with the new operator providing high-speed services. LLU should bring more competition, which should help to cut prices.

2 What types of service will be offered using LLU?

The services offered will depend on the service provider. They may wish to offer voice calls but may also offer broadband services such as always on Internet access or video on demand.

3 Will I need a new phone line or equipment?

It should be possible to use your existing phone line for LLU services. An ADSL modem will need to be installed at the consumer’s premises to receive the higher bandwidth services and the operator will arrange this directly with the consumer once an order is placed.

4 Will my phone number change?

You can choose to keep your existing phone number. The initial charge may differ, depending on whether you keep your existing number or not.

5 Will I still have to pay BT line rental?

If you retain BT for your voice telephony services you will still pay the line rental and call charges to BT and pay the OLO for the broadband services. If you are taking all services from a new operator, you will be billed directly by the new operator.

6 How will taking LLU affect other services that I receive from my current provider?

If you take all of your service from your new provider, you will lose all services from your current provider and your contract with them will cease. If there are some supplementary services e.g. call waiting which you would not want to lose with your new provider, check with them first to find out if they are offering them. For more information, talk to the companies concerned.

7 What will it cost?

It depends on the provider. Before you sign any contract with a service provider they must tell you how much they charge, how often you will be billed and the methods of payment. Although Oftel has set the charges that BT must charge service providers for certain standard items, service providers will set the prices charged to customers. You will need to consider whether the service provider offers a good deal for your circumstances.

8 What if I change my address?

If you change your address and wish to keep LLU, you will need to contact your LLU service provider who will advise you what to do. It is possible that your service provider may not offer LLU in a different locality but in that event, other service providers may offer LLU there.

9 What if I have a fault?

Faults on your line should be reported to your service provider. Faults on telephony services provided by BT should be reported to BT.

10 Is it available in my area?

Oftel intends to name the sites at which LLU is provided when work at a site begins. We will not speculate beforehand on when LLU is likely to become available in a particular area. It is likely that operators will advertise in the local press or send literature directly to customers in the relevant areas once the service becomes available.

11 Will all customers connected to an exchange be able get LLU when the work is finished?

BT is making LLU available to other operators at all its exchanges. Subject to technical feasibility, all lines at an exchange are available to other operators for LLU purposes. Lines are suitable for LLU only if they are provided by a metallic (usually copper) path. Most lines are in this category. However, the service that can be delivered to a customer will be dependent on the technology that an operator is using and the distance from the exchange of the customer’s telephone line.

With DSL technology there is a trade off between data rate and the length of the telephone line. Longer lines mean a slower data rate and vice versa. As an example, the ADSL products offered by BT are available to customers whose telephone line is 3.5km or shorter and it is estimated that 80% of telephone lines in the UK fall into this category. BT wholesale has recently launched products which use a Rate Adaptive modem. This allows a percentage of consumers, currently too far from the exchange, to get ADSL albeit at a reduced speed. However, LLU allows other operators to make their own decisions about the maximum line length that they can support.

The areas where LLU services are made available, the products offered and the technology used are all commercial decisions that are made by each individual operator.

12 Which companies will be providing services?

We are unable to provide a list of the companies interested in providing LLU services. It is likely that operators will advertise in the local press once service becomes available.

Annex G

Glossary

Access Network Facilities Agreement (ANF Agreement): The contract which operators need to sign to take LLU facilities

Access Network Frequency Plan (ANFP): A plan that defines the maximum levels of signal that can be injected into the Access Network. All equipment connected to the network must comply with the plan.

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL): A technology that provides high-speed data on an asymmetric basis. Typically a copper line is used to send a large quantity of data ( e.g. a television picture) in one direction and a small quantity (e.g. a control channel and a telephone call) in the other. Currently used for speeds of up to 2 Mb/s.

Backhaul: A wholesale service which provides capacity between an LLU operator’s equipment at a BT local exchange and an operator’s point of interconnection with BT’s network.

Bandwidth: The physical characteristic of a telecommunications system that indicates the speed at which information can be transferred. For ADSL, speeds of up to 2 Mb/s are offered, which are sufficient to transmit a video signal. Technologies such as VDSL offer the possibility of providing data rates of up to 15 Mb/s.

Bespoke arrangement: An arrangement made between the operator and BT to house its equipment in an exchange in a form other than a hostel. It will usually take the form of a custom designed room.

Bow wave: The industry designed Bow Wave process determined the order BT prepared exchanges in which competing operators wished to co-locate. It also set out the method for allocating space amongst operators in any exchange. The Bow Wave process has now been suspended.

Broadband: Most people connect to the Internet over a phone line, typically using a modem with a maximum speed of 28.8 or 56 kilobits per second. This "narrowband" communication requires users to wait while a dial up connection is made before they can access the Internet. Broadband services offer significantly faster data rates, enabling the delivery of services such as high speed Internet access and video on demand.

Co-location: The ability for other operators to install equipment in BT's local exchanges in order to supply services over the local loop. BT offers several options for co-locating within its exchanges (hostel, mini hostel, co-mingling, bespoke or in-curtilege arrangement).

Co-mingling: A form of physical co-location where an operator’s equipment is fitted and operated in an area within a BT exchange where BT could or does house its own equipment, without a permanent barrier between them.

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL): A technology that allows the use of a copper line to send higher bandwidth services, such as fast internet and video) to a customer’s premises.

Distant co-location: This is where an operator houses its equipment away from the exchange and uses an external tie cable to connect the exchange with this remote site.

DSL technology: Digital subscriber line technology. A family of technologies generically referred to as DSL, or xDSL, capable of transforming ordinary phone lines (twisted copper pairs) into high speed digital lines, capable of supporting advanced services such as fast internet access and video on demand. ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line), HDSL (High data rate Digital Subscriber line) and VDSL (Very high data rate Digital Subscriber Line) are all variants of xDSL.

Hand-over Distribution Frame (HDF): A distribution frame that connects to BT’s main distribution frame (MDF). An operator connects its DSL equipment to each pair via the HDF.

Hostel: A room that is built to a standard design to house a number of operators. The basic unit of capacity is the "equipment bay". The standard unit of space in a hostel is a 3 rack bay which has a footprint of 1.8m x 0.8m and a total area (including circulation space) of 10m². In addition to the standard hostel, a ‘mini’ hostel has been developed where fewer than four operators wish to co-locate at a particular site.

In-curtilage: A co-location option where operators locate their equipment outside of the exchange building but inside the exchange ground e.g. in the car park.

Line sharing (or shared access): An arrangement where two operators provide services over the same loop. One of the operators, generally BT, will be employing the lower frequency portion of the loop to provide voice telephony and the other will be using the higher frequencies to provide high-speed data services

Local loop: The access network connection between the customer’s premises and the local telephone exchange, usually a loop comprised of two copper wires.

Local loop unbundling (LLU): The process where the incumbent operator makes its local network (the connection between the customer’s premises and the local exchange) available to other companies. The customer is then able to choose another supplier other than the incumbent to provide service.

Main distribution frame (MDF): The apparatus in the local exchange building where the copper cables terminate and cross connection to other apparatus can be made by flexible jumpers.

Mini-hostel: A co-location hostel with a reduced specification which is used where less than four operators wish to share co-location space.

Other Licensed Operators (OLO): Companies, other than BT, which operate telecommunications systems.

Rate Adaption; ADSL is normally only available to those living within 3.5km of an ADSL-enabled local exchange, but this can be extended to 5.5km for rate adaptive variants of the products. Rate-adaption is achieved through relaxing the line qualification limits, enabling the upstream path (away from the End User) to rate adapt to between 64kbit/s and 250kbit/s depending on distance from the exchange and traffic levels. The downstream speed (into the End User) remains the same at up to 500kbit/s, providing continued high speed Internet downloads.

Service provider: Provider of telecommunication services, or services with a telecommunication service component, to third parties.

Splitter: A device which separates a local loop into two independent channels, one for voice and one for higher bandwidth, so that different services can be run on the loop without interference.

Sub loop unbundling: An arrangement that enables operators to interconnect with the local access network at the primary connection point, which is usually the green cabinet at the side of the road.

Tie Cable: A cable which interconnects the MDF and HDF. Where the operator’s equipment is sited within the BT exchange the cable will be internal. Where distant co-location is used, an external cable provided by either BT or the operator will be used.

Video on-demand: A programme or film sent independently to a customer in response to his individual request. This contrasts with broadcast television, where the signal is sent simultaneously to all customers.

Annex H

Completed investigations

Duct sharing

Oftel has closed its investigation into a complaint arising due to BT's refusal to share duct space with operators in the provision of distant location service. Oftel found that there would be serious network integrity concerns for BT’s public telephone network if BT was obliged to provide the duct sharing products described in the complaint.

Discrimination complaint

Oftel’s investigation into alleged undue discrimination between LLU and BT’s ADSL roll out has been completed. Oftel considered whether BT was in breach of the Competition Act and/or the prohibition on undue discrimination/preference in condition 83 of its licence and/or the EC LLU Regulation. Oftel did not find evidence of a breach of the Competition Act. In order for discrimination to occur, there has to be evidence of a material distortion of competition.

Oftel did not find a material effect on competition resulting from BT’s non-participation in the Bow Wave. Oftel noted that:

(a) BT is unlikely to gain any significant first mover advantage in the retail DSL market by installing DSL equipment in exchanges ahead of the Bow Wave Process. Operators can compete directly with BT via BT’s DSL products and/or via distant location. In addition it would not be proportionate regulation to stop BT’s DSL rollout which would delay broadband availability in UK.

(b) The Bow Wave Process has ceased due to significant reduction of demand for space in exchanges. Since April 2001 BT can has accepted orders for co-location space in exchanges on a business as usual basis. Requests for distant location facilities have been on business as usual basis since December 2000.

The EC Regulation requires BT to provide facilities equivalent to those provided for its own services or to its associated companies with the same conditions and timescales. BT did not provide Oftel with evidence to demonstrate it is sufficiently compliant with the Regulation though this does not prove a breach.

As a result of these investigations, Oftel has concluded that further steps should be taken to ensure and demonstrate compliance by BT with its obligations. As well as the action detailed in this update, Oftel also intends that BT should provide further detail to demonstrate compliance with the Regulation. In particular, the facilities BT provides for its own DSL services should be separated into a series of cost components in the regulatory accounts.

The full text of Oftel’s statement can be found at the following address: http://www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/broadband/llu/nondi0701.htm

Co-mingling

Co-mingling is a form of physical co-location where an operator’s equipment is fitted and operated in the same area in an exchange as BT houses its own equipment without any physical separation. Oftel has directed that BT shall meet all requests for co-mingling unless it is impracticable to do so (e.g. technical or network integrity grounds). The full text of the final direction can be found at: http://www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/broadband/llu/comi1001.htm

The investigation into the criteria BT applies when rejecting a request for co-mingling has been concluded. Oftel found that a number of criteria, including some technical requirements, were inappropriate. Following Oftel intervention BT agreed to revise the criteria, the amended version of which was published by BT on 14^th March 2002.

Shared access

On 18 October 2001, Oftel published its final charges for shared access to local loops. Oftel has set an annual rent of £53 plus a connection charge of £117 per shared loop. These final prices are lower than those originally proposed and the rental charge is below the EU average. The full text of the direction can be found at http://www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/broadband/llu/shac1001.htm

Site clearance

Oftel has confirmed that BT must not charge operators separately for clearing a site in preparation for co-location build in its exchanges, but must recover these costs through the rent charged for co-location space. The final direction on site clearance costs can be found at the following address: http://www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/broadband/llu/clear1001.htm

Access to BT’s exchanges for third parties

On 13 December 2001, Oftel determined that operators can have unescorted access to BT’s exchanges (on the same basis as contractors acting on behalf of BT) in order to carry out maintenance on their equipment. Escorted access will only be necessary where BT requires its own contractors to be accompanied by a member of BT staff. This measure aims to ensure that operators are not subject to unnecessary costs and that operators’ staff are treated in the same way as BT’s own contractors. The full text of the direction can be found at: http://www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/broadband/llu/escac1201.htm

Pricing investigation

During October 2001, Oftel’s investigation into the pricing of BT’s co-location services was concluded. In general the prices were found to be cost-oriented. However some prices were found to be too high. Oftel’s statement on the conclusion of the investigation is at the following address: http://www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/local_loop/colo1001.htm

In January 2002, Oftel directed that BT must reduce the prices that were found to be too high as part of the October investigation (i.e. external tie cable rental and escorted access costs). The text of this final direction can be found at: http://www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/broadband/llu/llup0102.htm