The Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator (OTA2) has today published its July 2009 update and revealed that the UK is now home to over 6,009,593 unbundled ( LLU ) telephone lines. Unbundled lines allow rival ( non – BT ) telephone and broadband ISPs to manage and install their own kit in BT's exchanges, which often results in considerably cheaper and or more flexible services ( e.g. TalkTalk , Sky Broadband etc. ).

The spur for the surge in unbundling was a set of legally-binding Undertakings that Ofcom agreed with BT Group in September 2005. These required BT to set up a new division, called BT Openreach, to provide services to rivals. Back then there were just 123,000 LLU lines in the UK and the majority of people could only get broadband and landline rental (voice) from BT.


Today, Ofcom reports, there are over 30 different companies offering unbundled telephone (voice) and broadband services to UK homes and small businesses. This has helped to drive broadband take-up and reduce prices. In September 2005, 37% of households and small businesses had broadband; today the figure is over 65%.


According to Ofcom research, consumers were paying on average £23.30 +vat per month for a broadband service delivered over a copper phone line at the end of 2005. Today they are paying around £13.61 +vat for the same service.

It’s worth pointing out that most unbundled ISPs understandably focus their efforts on denser town and city populations, while BT based services often cost more because they are obligated to deliver a truly universal telephone service, which means covering expensive to reach rural and remote locations too.