Oftel dismisses calls to break up BT

NEWS Telecoms regulator Oftel has rebuffed calls from a Parliamentary committee to have BT broken into separate companies. The House of Commons culture, media and sport committee urged Oftel to separate the retail and wholesale arms of BT to boost competition in the broadband market. However, an Oftel statement published today dismissed the idea, claiming that its existing powers were sufficient to keep the telecoms behemoth under control. It said: "Because Oftel has sufficient regulatory powers to develop a competitive broadband market, the option of breaking up BT is therefore not on its current agenda." "Competition in the broadband market continues to increase, with prices cheaper in the UK than in France or Germany."