As we said in our submission, opening up exchanges is not the same as unbundling the local loop. BT has over 6,000 local exchanges and to date, BT has initial applications from 30 OLOs for more than 20,000 points of presence in up to 3,000 exchanges. Five LLU trial sites involving 14 operators are on schedule to be up and running by January and assuming trials are successful BT would expect to provide unbundling at around 100 additional exchange areas every month. But the eventual extent and rate of unbundling depends to a very large extent on the level of commercial interest and the orders we receive from OLOs. It is likely that operators will be most interested in offering services in areas of dense population.
Some exchanges cover a lot more people than others.
In September, OLOs were invited to bid for the right to place their equipment in BT's exchanges. Some 30 operators applied and BT is currently processing the orders for a first tranche of 361 exchanges. BT has no role in determining which operator goes where and in what sequence orders are handled. To ensure fairness and transparency, the industry has agreed that an independent third party, the Electoral Reform Society, should prioritise the orders received from OLOs. Following Oftel's proposed allocation procedure, BT is currently processing the first tranche of orders for 361 exchanges.