Following last week’s Q4 results, today we saw how BT Group plans to implement its new strategy starting with the reshaping of its consumer division. There were a number of announcements made, the most important of which we have summarised here.
BT – Q4 results and the biggest shake-up in a decade
After a two year slide, during which the share price has practically halved, trust and confidence amongst BT's investors needs to be rebuilt. Accordingly, the company has announced its biggest overhaul in a decade which sees cost stripping and job losses but also new hires and investment.
New battle lines drawn after a year of setbacks for BT
Q4 and full year 2016/17 was always going to be a difficult set of results for BT given the enormity of the year they’ve had which saw two scandals (with considerable financial consequence), and the end of a protracted battle with the regulator over one of the most important lines of business. While that battle may be over, it’s clear there’s a new one beginning over Ofcom’s wholesale local access market review and investment incentives which looks set to dominate the agenda over the coming months.
Ofcom tries again with a duct and pole access remedy
Ofcom is now consulting on a revised duct and pole offer to be imposed on BT. This forms part of Ofcom's recent strategic shift to focus on removing potential barriers for providers other than BT to deploy fibre.
Ofcom to regulate wholesale price of fibre for the first time
On 31 March 2017, Ofcom published a number of consultation documents in relation to its Wholesale Local Access Market Review. The three key proposals are for a broadly stable LLU charge control, a new wholesale price control on some of BT's fibre network and tougher quality of service standards for Openreach.
