“Consistency is incredibly important to investors and Ofcom has largely been consistent,” says Karen Egan, head of telecoms at Enders Analysis.
Openreach hosted internet service providers including Sky, TalkTalk and BT’s own retail units on its network, which comprised about 80 per cent of the market by 2016, according to Enders Analysis.
Others see it differently. Although the altnet drive had been crucial, the UK’s meteoric rollout is largely owed to Ofcom’s decision to guarantee Openreach its fair bet, argues Egan.
“I just don’t think that you can [say] to your board and to your shareholders, ‘We’re rolling this out because the government’s kind of really leaning on us to do so,’” Egan says. “I think it was more about the fair bet from Ofcom.”