Oftel's decision to force BT to break up its monopoly of the local telephone network is good news for everyone - except the beleaguered telecommunications giant itself.
The debate over bringing "broadband" telecommunications links into the home goes back at least 15 years - but it still hasn't arrived. In the mid 1980s the government decided to leave it to market forces rather than authorise BT to go ahead with a massive investment in fibre optic cables in exchange for being allowed to deliver "entertainment" (mainly video) down the line.
The trouble was that BT was left with a virtual monopoly of the profitable "local loop", the last mile or so of wire that connects the home to the local exchange. Understandably, from its own point of view, it wants to hang on to these monopoly profits as long as possible - so it hasn't exactly been busting keen to open up the local loop to competitors who have been complaining bitterly about BT dragging its feet.
Competition in the local loop would almost certainly have accelerated the introduction of broadband.
BT has been under pressure from the government and the regulator for some time to allow competitors to deliver a broadband (high capacity) telephone line into homes so it isn't just the preserve of businesses.
The government is concerned that slow access doesn't become an issue in the general election campaign.
BT's response was to start opening the loop in less densely populated areas which obviously are not as attractive to competitors as the built-up areas.
Yesterday Oftel announced an agreement to accelerate the existing timetable for unbundling the loop which ought to bring access quicker to densely populated areas.
The widespread availability of broadband access to the internet is vital if Britain is to be at the leading edge of delivering films, video, conference vision and other digital products to the world's exploding internet population.
Those countries that are early adopters of new technologies are in a good position to enable their own businesses to piggyback on their success by selling their expertise abroad.
Although BT has been dragging its feet, Britain is still doing reasonably well on adoption of broadband options like ADSL compared with most countries on the Continent. BT claims that Britain will be out among the leaders when the local loop is finally opened up.
However, the concentration on densely populated areas, while attractive to the companies involved, raises the danger of opening a "digital divide" between richer and poorer parts of the country.
BT claims that there isn't much point in providing broadband access, at enormous expense, to outlying areas that won't use it much and which could obtain access to the internet through their television screens or mobile phones.
Britain's approach - relying on market forces goaded by the regulator - is in marked contrast to the policy adopted in Singapore where the government decided to build fibre optic connections to most homes, a task that has largely been accomplished.
Useful links
British Telecom
Oftel
Phonebills.org
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