UUNET Gives Oftel Thumbs-up, But Asks for More

MCI WorldCom’s UUNET
has given the “thumbs-up” to Oftel’s ruling that BT must unbundle
its local loop, but says more pressure is needed.

UUNET’s managing director Richard Heyes told the industry that it should
not simply celebrate the ruling, but insist that BT and
Oftel make better progress and address all the issues of
co-location of equipment at local telephone exchanges.

Oftel’s ruling this week set out the timetable for
BT to unbundle its local loop. The move will pave
the way for other firms to deliver high-speed Internet
services via DSL technology straight into homes and
businesses.

In a statement, UUNET said it was disappointed that
Oftel’s ruling postponed full raw copper unbundling
and DSL co-location until mid 2001. In any case, UUNET wants to
see full co-location at exchanges, not limited to DSL equipment.
The resulting competition will lead to lower prices, says UUNET.

“If the UK population is to reap the benefits of e-commerce and
participate in the emerging global e-conomy then the true
competition and thereby significantly reduced pricing of
services that co-location enables, has to happen,” said
Richard Heyes.

He called on the industry to keep monitoring the situation but
said he applauded the progress that has been made to date.

MCI WorldCom’s UUNET is a global leader in Internet
communications.