A report published by the Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator (OTA) shows that close to 3 million local loops have been successfully unbundled since the program began way back in 2000.

Many of BT’s ISP rivals, particularly Sky and Tiscali have taken advantage of LLU, with the former offering free broadband to phone customers, and the latter offering inclusive line rental. Carphone Warehouse, who own and run TalkTalk, purchased AOL UK last October, which, at the time, made it the 3rd largest LLU operator in the country.

Whilst the figures are encouraging, the report also suggests that between 20 and 30 percent of unbundled and rented lines fail and require extensive repairs and maintenance costs.

It is estimated that it costs an ISP something in the region of £35,000 to install phone equipment in a single exchange – if this is the case, then since the Easynet buyout, Sky have invested in a figure close to £6million in LLU – factoring in the above figure plus a percentage to count for repair costs.

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