Maria Eagle MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, responding to the release of Ofcom’s Initial Conclusions from the Strategic Review into Digital Communications, said:

“This report confirms again how badly the Government got it wrong in failing to create healthy competition in the UK’s digital market. Since then Ministers’ rollout of broadband has been far too slow, letting down millions of British households and businesses at a cost of billions of pounds to the economy.

“As Ofcom make clear, BT Openreach must be much more responsive to consumers, far too many of whom are fed up over a lack of access to broadband and poor quality. It is right that this report stresses the need to better empower consumers, introduce more ambitious service standards for Openreach, inject a greater degree of competition into the market and strengthen Openreach’s independence from BT.

“I welcome the report’s emphasis on a shift to fibre, which Labour has long called for. It is clear there must be better standards of service across the telecommunications industry as a whole.

“The Government cannot afford to waste any more time and must now get on with delivering the broadband infrastructure that UK homes and businesses need.”