LLU connections break UK records

December saw the biggest surge yet in the number of unbundled Internet connections in the UK, with 200,000 new LLU lines taking the total to 1.3 million.

More strikingly, there are now more than ten times as many LLU lines as there were at the beginning of 2006, with the benefits evident in lower prices.

Peter Black, the telecommunications adjudicator, whose office compiled the figures, noted in his monthly report that there has been a significant improvements in the delivery of LLU connections, although much work remains to be done to improve the service.

While the proportion of Net connections that are correctly unbundled at the first time of asking rose from 83 per cent to 94 per cent, the delivery of fully unbundled lines - where the LLU service provider also takes over the telephone connection from BT - is well below Black's target, with only 68 per cent correctly unbundled at the first attempt.

Black notes that this is an improvement on past performance, but far from good enough and he has begun further investigations into how the process can be improved.

Migrating from one ISP to another continues to pose a problem where LLU lines are involved. While Ofcom has announced new migration rules to come into effect next month, these only cover BT lines, not LLU connections. As a result, Black - together with Ofcom and Openreach, BT's LLU division - has begun work on a cross-industry plan that will enable migrations to take place seamlessly.

While this plan is being developed, Openreach and ISPs have put in place a number of short-term measures to attempt to alleviate migration problems.

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