...UK Digital Communications Review: UK regulator Ofcom is undertaking a review of digital communications in the UK telecoms market. It has said it is giving consideration to the idea of the structural separation of the incumbent fixed network. Its last such review in 2005 led to the functional separation of Openreach in 2006. This report looks at the state of next generation access (NGA), the technology and commercial strategies that have proven successful in Europe's leading economies, and some of the financial issues raised by structural separation. Fitch Ratings' working assumption is that functional separation remains the regulatory framework for Openreach, providing the basis on which our cash-flow forecasts are formed and which underpin our BT ratings. A major revision of the regulatory framework of any incumbent network would by definition require a review of how such an incumbent business was rated. Digital Communications Review Timeline: The deadline for comments was early October....
