BT willing to give greater autonomy to Openreach unit-chairman

LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) - BT is willing to give more autonomy to its Openreach network division, creating an independent board with a greater say over investment, its chairman said on Monday ahead of a decision on whether it should be broken up.

Rival telecom providers who rely on BT's network have accused the group of not investing enough and providing a poor quality of service and regulator Ofcom has threatened to break up Britain's biggest telecoms provider if it does not improve broadband access in the country.

Ofcom is due to give its findings about how Openreach should be run on Tuesday and its chairman spoke publicly on Monday to set out its future plans.

"We need to improve the transparency, we're absolutely willing to form an Openreach board that would have an independent chairman, a majority of independent directors," he told BBC Radio.

"We're willing to give more authority to Openreach in determination of its capital investment programme."

(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by William James)