Tom Watson MP, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, commenting on Ofcom’s decision to separate BT from Openreach, said:

“This decision by Ofcom confirms once again that the Government has failed to create healthy competition in the UK’s digital market. The rollout of broadband has been far too slow and millions of British households and businesses have paid the price, at a cost of billions of pounds to the economy.

“As Ofcom makes clear, Openreach must be much more responsive to consumers, far too many of whom don’t have access to broadband or put up with a poor quality service.  

“It is right that Ofcom are ordering BT to strengthen Openreach’s independence from BT, introducing more ambitious service standards for Openreach and injecting a greater degree of competition into the market. 

“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 so badly need.”