WE live in a connected world. Broadband internet connectivity has opened up a truly global marketplace.

Sadly, it has also created a growing digital divide between people with fast internet connectivity and users who struggle just to get online.

BT’s Openreach division develops and maintains the UK’s main telecoms network used by phone and broadband providers such as Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone and BT itself.

Critics say Openreach has an unhealthy symbiotic relationship with its parent which creates an incentive to make decisions in the interests of its retail division, rather than the competition.

Last week MPs accused BT of ‘significantly’ under-investing in Openreach by hundreds of millions of pounds every year. As a result, the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee claimed a significant proportion of the country is suffering slow broadband speeds, connectivity problems and poor service.

Ofcom has stopped short of prising BT and Openreach apart in favour of giving the infrastructure provider more independence.

This should, in theory, mean a better service for Openreach’s third party customers like Sky.

Ofcom claims ittook this decision for customers.

Separating Openreach will take months whereas selling it could take years so the benefits should feed through sooner.

And those improvements cannot come soon enough. The UK’s internet is slower than Latvia, Romania, Denmark and more than a dozen other countries.

Where will the next ARM come from if only 38 per cent of internet users have access to high speed broadband? Better connectivity attracts more overseas investment and helps high-tech start-ups.

Openreach has been given a stay of execution but the clock is still ticking.