LLU Equivalence of Input now available
Openreach hit a major milestone last week with the delivery of LLU Equivalence of Input (EoI) via the Equivalence Management Platform (EMP). As of 30 June and in keeping with the ‘waterfall’ approach agreed with industry, an initial group of LLU Communications Providers have been enabled to use the EMP. This means that all of their ordering, fault repair and dialogue services capability will be conducted through a single interface and for the first time BT Wholesale will be consuming exactly the same LLU product, on the same terms, as the rest of industry.
The EMP is one of the largest, most ambitious IT implementations within BT in the last decade and nobody should underestimate the challenge of delivering this project within the timescales. The Openreach and One IT teams, along with the early adopter customers, have been working flat out to deliver this crucial system at a time when the demand for LLU is increasing dramatically.
Openreach are fully committed to making LLU a success. LLU lines have grown 50 fold since the start of 2004 and since June 2005 the number of lines unbundled has increased by almost 750 per cent. The number of lines unbundled is now in excess of half a million (announced 15/6/06).
Openreach is currently fulfilling more than 20,000 LLU orders per week. Nearly 20 LLU Communications players provide unbundled services from almost 1,000 local exchanges across the UK today. The EMP will be able to handle greater volumes and improve automation of business critical processes for all LLU Communications Providers.
Since its creation, Openreach has reduced the price of migrating to both shared and fully unbundled LLU which will create additional certainty and confidence for operators investing in LLU. The introduction of a new mass migration product and the ability to transfer an end-user’s telephone number will make it simpler for consumers to move between operators and stimulate choice and competition in the market for the benefit of all.