Is Oftel finally getting tough with BT?

Hats off to Oftel. It's not too often we get a chance to write that.

The telecoms regulator has upset BT Wholesale. Not a lot, but it's a start, and we salute it.

Oftel is definitely doing something right if Ian Morfett, head of regulatory affairs at BT Wholesale, has attacked it for being "heavy-handed".

But is it heavy-handed enough? We think not.

All Oftel is asking for is that BT Wholesale gives a service level agreement (SLA) to the local loop new-comers, who are trying to offer DSL by installing equipment in BT's local exchanges (in the process known as local loop unbundling, or LLU).

The most surprising fact is that BT still hasn't provided an SLA. How are companies expected to build a business when they depend on a supplier that can't guarantee to supply them?

Oftel told BT to agree a deal with the local loop operators in February. Nothing happened, and in May the operators wrote to Oftel asking for action.

Three months and 60 closely-worded pages later, we get a 'proposal', which will take even longer to come into force. It's a start, but it's still late.

Whenever the industry has accused BT Wholesale of standing in the way of LLU, BT's defence is that it has met every deadline Oftel has set.

So ultimately the responsibility for screwing up LLU lies with Oftel (though God knows dealing with BT isn't easy).

LLU remains a terrifyingly difficult business, and we're glad we don't have to do it. But the people who are trying should be given the best shot they can get.

We'd like to see Oftel putting more pressure on BT, to make it bend over backwards to help companies like Bulldog, Easynet and Energis make their business plans work.

That's why it's such good news to hear Oftel has finally become a little stroppy. It's good stuff, and we want more of it.

So, come on, Oftel, don't be heavy-handed - just turn that screw some more.