Following Ofcom's proposals to make Openreach a distinct company within the BT Group Adept Telecom CEO Ian Fishwick said full separation was never an option given the complications of pension fund obligations.
"There are probably more ex-employees than employees and most worked before Openreach even existed," he said.
"So if you break off Openreach how do you decide what portion of the pension issue it takes with it?
"Many have been under the false impression that Openreach was a separate company with its own financial accounts. It never has been and it is amazing Ofcom has allowed this for so long.
"Perhaps the biggest issue is how the cash generated from Openreach's profits is used. Should BT be allowed to treat it as Group cash and fund areas like football TV rights, or should Openreach be forced to only spend its own cash on improving the UK's infrastructure? I sit firmly in the latter camp.
"Whether anything changes depends entirely on how this will be enforced. The devil is in the detail."