BT HAS a “significant” job to do if it is to prove that measures designed to open up its network to rivals are working, the telecoms regulator said.

Ofcom highlighted a series of failings in BT’s efforts to ensure fair access to its network in a report released yesterday, a year after the former telecoms monopoly agreed to legally binding measures to open its exchanges.

The report is the latest in a series of critical reports on BT’s efforts. Last week, Peter Black, the independent telecoms adjudicator, expressed severe concerns about the company’s progress.

If the telecoms giant is found to have breached any of the 250-odd legally binding undertakings that it agreed to last year, it could face legal action or even be broken up by the competition watchdog.

Ofcom said yesterday that Openreach, a special unit set up to ensure that competitors have the same access to the network as BT, had per- formed poorly across a range of products and that the promised improvements have “not always been fully delivered or maintained”.

Progress was also required, the study found, in “boundary issues” between Openreach and BT’s wholesale division, with some rival operators questioning whether the supposed “Chinese Walls” that BT has erected between its wholesale division and Openreach are effective. Ofcom ultimately could refer the telecoms giant to the Competition Commission, which could lead to a decision to break up the company.

The regulator insisted yesterday that the undertakings issued to BT last year remain the right measures to open up the UK telecoms market. However, it concluded, there is “clearly a significant amount of work still to do”.

A spokesman for BT said: “Clearly there are still a number of challenges ahead, but it is pleasing that Ofcom acknowledges that a great deal of progress has been made.”

The study found that the Openreach brand has failed to take off. Although it had aimed to ensure that 35 per cent of consumers knew about Openreach by July of this year, only 19 per cent actually did.

Rival operators are also sceptical about the commitment of Openreach staff to ensuring access to the network is fair. Some, the study said, felt “it is still the same old BT”.

THE STEPS TO BREAK-UP

BT agreed a year ago to sign up to 200-odd legally binding measures aimed at creating more competition in the telecoms market

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