John Pluthero, the head of Cable & Wireless UK, has slammed BT's network division Openreach for poor service and has complained to the telecoms regulator, Ofcom, that delays in connecting network equipment within local exchanges could stifle competition.
His comments follow a report from Ofcom that said BT's service performance "across a range of wholesale products has at times been poor, and promised improvements have not always been fully delivered".
Pluthero said: "We are not overly impressed with what we have seen so far and, as Ofcom's own report admits, we have seen worsening service performance and the promised service improvements are just that, only promises."
The regulator said that the service performance problems "significantly affect the ability for effective and sustainable competition to develop".