BT Openreach loses CEO

UK incumbent BT said Monday that Liv Garfield is to step down as CEO of Openreach during Spring 2014, to take up a new challenge as CEO of Severn Trent, the FTSE 100 water company.

Since Garfield assumed the Openreach position in April 2011, the availability of fibre over BT’s Openreach network has risen from around four million premises to more than 17 million.

Also during Garfield’s tenure, Local Loop Unbundling – where other operators rent a copper line from Openreach – has also gone from strength to strength, from 7.6 million unbundled lines in 2011 to around nine million in 2013.

Garfield’s successor will be announced by BT in due course.