Ofcom Courts Ex-BT Chief Amid Break-Up Threat

Ben Verwaayen, a former boss of BT Group (LSE: BT-A.L - news) , is in talks to join the board of the industry regulator midway through a review that could see the former state-owned telecoms group forcibly broken up.

Sky News has learnt that Mr Verwaayen has been approached about one of the vacant directorships at Ofcom more than seven years after he stepped down as BT’s chief executive.

Now (NYSE: DNOW - news) an investor in European technology start-ups through Keen Ventures, a London-based group, the Dutchman is said to be in “active” discussions about taking the Ofcom board seat.

After leaving BT in 2008, when he handed over the reins to Ian – now Lord – Livingston, Mr Verwaayen moved to the top job at the telecoms equipment group Alcatel Lucent, which endured a difficult time before agreeing a merger with Nokia (Milan: 23568.MI - news) earlier this year.

The length of time which has passed since he left BT means that Mr Verwaayen would almost certainly be eligible to participate in the regulator’s discussions about a possible separation of Openreach, the division of BT which manages rivals’ access to the national telecoms network.

Ofcom declined to comment on its approach to Mr Verwaayen, and one person close to the situation cautioned that it was not yet certain that he would be appointed.

The watchdog’s review of Openreach’s future forms part of a wider examination of digital communications markets, with BT’s critics arguing that it has failed to roll out superfast broadband sufficiently quickly.

Other major broadband providers have urged regulators to break up BT, claiming that it uses its ownership of Openreach to aid its retail business at the expense of rivals.

BT has rejected this suggestion, saying that its multibillion pound investment programme has only been possible because of its structure.

Sharon White, Ofcom’s chief executive, said earlier this month that maintaining the status quo was “unlikely”, a remark interpreted by some City analysts as paving the way for radical action.

Sky plc (LSE: BSY.L - news) , the owner of Sky News, is a competitor to BT in broadband, telecoms and pay-television, and has been a vocal supporter of moves to force the former state monopoly to relinquish control of Openreach.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) emerged several days ago that BT would withdraw proposals for Openreach to deal directly with consumers following a consultation with major internet service providers including Sky, TalkTalk and Vodafone.

BT is searching for a new boss of Openreach after Joe Garner, the previous chief executive, resigned to run Nationwide, Britain’s biggest building society.

Mr Verwaayen could not be reached for comment.