Openreach

Openreach spans and shepherds the UK's "last mile". An operating unit of BT Group, Openreach handles the copper wire and fiber-optic cable connections that link consumers and businesses to their local exchange networks. It provides local network installation and maintenance services for about 500 communications providers in the UK, including BT businesses (about 70% of sales). Products and services come under wholesale line rental (WLR), local loop unbundling (LLU), Ethernet, and fiber-based broadband. Openreach was created in 2006 out of BT's wholesale and retail divisions as part of a settlement with regulatory agency Ofcom to ensure that other service providers have full access to BT's network.