It's just over a year since BT established its Equality of Access Board (EAB), and supporting operational unit the Equality of Access Office (EAO). The BT-funded EAB and EAO were set up to monitor the UK incumbent's compliance with regulatory norms in areas such as unbundling and to handle complaints from competing carriers. As such, its formation was seen by detractors as a desperate attempt to stave off mandated structural separation of BT's wholesale and retail arms.

To an extent, the suspicion remains among BT's rivals that the EAO is an elaborate exercise in window-dressing, intending to put the regulators off the scent. The man tasked with changing that perception is Jon Furmston, Director of the EAO. A self-described "BT lifer", Furmston acknowledges that his appointment to head the day-to-day operations of the EAO raised some eyebrows among BT's rivals. He counters, however, that “at least I know all the dodgy things that go on!”.

Furmston's candour, not to mention a sense of humour, are probably essential as he seeks to establish his role as an 'honest broker' between BT, its competitors, and the regulators. The EAO's remit is such, that in its guise as an internal investigator, any suspicion which outsiders may have regarding its role is likely to be more than matched within BT itself.

For his part, Furmston appears to view BT with a certain detachment. Looking back over the last year, he says, “BT has been doing most things reasonably so far... although that may appear to be damning BT with faint praise”, but he adds, “we are now entering the most challenging phase of the Undertakings [the carrier’s self-regulatory benchmarks announced in 2005] for BT.”

The latter is a nod to successive waves of unbundling criteria that are scheduled to come in to force between now and the middle of next year. “The biggest challenges are yet to come”, concedes Furmston.

Yet the EAO must perform a delicate balancing act s far as BT, its regulators and its competitors are concerned. "I suppose we find ourselves walking a tightrope most of the time. If I didn't feel like that, I'd probably not be doing my job properly", he says. "When I look at the stakeholders, I suppose that if any of them were totally happy, I'd have failed in my task."

To date, the EAO has consulted widely with competing carriers. "We have to show that this isn’t just an interesting, theoretical regulatory construct. We probably still have to make more efforts to demonstrate that we are independent, objective and fair.”

He continues, “I suppose what the first year has proven is that to date it looks like this model can work. I am reasonably confident that the EAO can cope with an increase in activity; I am not so sure that BT itself can cope with it.”

Part of the EAO's success may lie in handling grievances through informal investigation and discussion, without recourse to the more protracted formal complaints procedure. Furmston reveals that some 50 issues raised in discussions with service providers have been investigated and informally resolved in this way. “We are dealing with issues at a more pragmatic, operational level”, he says, “and it has lowered the regulatory temperature.”

He adds, “sometimes Ofcom’s investigatory powers can be like a sledgehammer. For some issues, you don’t need that approach. In fact, because we are part of BT, we can get under the skin of the organisation.”

As the EAO is poised to enter a more intense and complex phase of activity, Furmston remains sanguine about the challenges ahead and the task of ensuring that BT meets its obligations. "You have to eat an elephant in small pieces", he says with a trademark smile.
Jim Chalmers