“It is short-term price cuts versus enabling the industry to get together to build an infrastructure that will take 20 years to put in place but will serve the country for decades after.” Local councils imposing three-month delays on roadworks are also high on his list of irritants. The £200m increase in Openreach’s business rates bill this year does not help either. An apparent slowdown in the retail broadband market as consumers balk at price rises is another threat to the business case for full fibre. Mr Selley believes the long-term economics are tilted in his favour, however. “The macro position is that this is a very healthy digital economy. Britons have a propensity to buy and sell and order things online more than Germans, French, Spanish, Italians,” he says. “There’s population growth. There’s still house building.” The future of Openreach itself could be up for grabs once BT has overhauled its pension liabilities. Some City observers believe the company could get a very good price for its infrastructure monopoly. “I’m not going to worry about crystal ball gazing about ownership structures in five years’ time,” says Mr Selley. “We’ve stuff to do now.”
For the first time, TalkTalk , Openreach , BT , TalkTalk 's consumer arm, and mobile operators are all to have a say on the future of the UK 's retail broadband market, as Openreach launches a consultation to assess their commercial appetite for fibre. The discussions are said to hinge on charge controls, with Openreach demanding guarantees that it will recoup its investment. Tighter wholesale price caps that are due to come in this year are already undermining a “fair bet” agreement with Ofcom and threaten Openreach 's case for super-fast broadband for the majority of UK homes, said CEO Clive Selley , who is leading the shake up at Openreach after it was legally separated from BT .