§ The Earl of Northeskasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether OFTEL's decision to scrap the so-called "bow wave" process of allocating space in British Telecom's local exchanges will accelerate the delivery of local loop unbundling; and what implications this has more generally for the delivery of broadband Internet connectivity. [HL910]
§ The Minister for Science, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)The agreement to suspend the Bow Wave Process is welcomed as it indicates that Local Loop Unbundling is moving into a more settled phase. BT has stated that it is able to resource all requests for unbundling facilities on a "business as usual" basis. This will allow operators to implement their business plans on a more flexible basis and make it more straightforward for operators to achieve the geographic footprint they need in order to launch commercial broadband services. Oftel is also working with BT and operators in order to reduce the timescales for providing unbundling facilities in order to accelerate the delivery of local loop unbundling.
Requests for co-location facilities at BT exchanges are currently being progressed and it is anticipated that the construction work at the first sites will begin around Easter. Orders for distant location from operators can proceed at a faster rate than preparation of co-location space within BT exchanges. High speed Internet access is already available in many areas to consumers over the networks operated by BT, Kingston, and the cable companies.