In its review, the Financial Times chose to focus on "superfast" broadband, but it's an unsatisfactory term. The current focus is on full fiber - that is, with fiber as the premise. That's what's needed to achieve the broadband utopia envisioned by the British government, which makes Selley's observation about his inability to hire the people he needs all the more frustrating.
"They want jobs, we want skills, and the Home Office has a convoluted process," Selley said. "We're limiting the rate of fiber construction in the U.K. through that process. I would take 1,000 people tomorrow if it was easier to get people in."
Apparently he was referring to contractors rather than full-time employees, and was particularly concerned about Spain and Portugal because they are at a more advanced stage of fiber deployment, thus freeing up qualified workers for new projects. The UK has some sort of points-based immigration system that apparently does not take into account the needs of this particular labor market.
Another word the FT favors in its article is "Britain's exit from the EU," and the headline mischaracterizes Sealy's words as it rushes to steer the narrative in that direction. It's no secret that the FT is no fan of the UK's withdrawal from the EU, but unlike other British media, it has largely accepted the outcome of the vote and focused on how to make the most of the situation.
However, old habits are hard to break, and in this case it fell into the familiar correlation/causation trap of assuming that anything that happened after the UK's vote to leave the EU was but a direct result of it. The problem, Sealy makes clear, is our own rules and bureaucracy, which in this case seem to have proven themselves incapable of adapting to the new environment. Brexit may have exposed the incompetence of the British government, but it didn't cause it.
As for Selley's agenda, it seems fair to assume that Openreach is facing new pressure from the government over the speed of its fiber deployment, so he is trying to shift the blame back to the state. If the UK is making it difficult for skilled Europeans to work here then that is indeed a failure of Brexit, but that seems like an easy fix if the government wants it to be.
