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In 1996 the United States [[Telecommunications Act of 1996|Telecommunication Act]] (in section 251) defined the [[unbundled access]] as:
{{quote|The duty to provide, to any requesting telecommunications carrier for the provision of a telecommunications service, nondiscriminatory access to network elements on an unbundled basis at any technically feasible point on rates, terms, and conditions that are just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory in accordance with the terms and conditions of the agreement and the requirements of this section and section 252. An incumbent local exchange carrier shall provide such unbundled network elements in a manner that allows requesting carriers to combine such elements in order to provide such telecommunications service.<ref>{{cite web
The 1993 report referred to the logical requirement to unbundle optical fibre access but recommended deferral to a later date when fibre access had become more common. In 2006 there were the first signs that (as a result of the municipal fibre networks movement and example such as Sweden where unbundled local loop fibre is commercially available from both the incumbent and competitors) policy may yet evolve in this direction.
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===World Trade Organisation===
Some provisions of [[World Trade Organization|WTO]] telecommunications law can be read to require unbundling:
* Sect. 5(a) of the [[GATS Annex on Telecommunications]]<ref>
* Sect. 2.2(b) of the 1998 [[WTO Reference Paper|Reference Paper]],<ref>
* Sect. 1 of the Reference Paper requires Members to maintain "appropriate measures ... for the purpose of preventing [major] suppliers ... from engaging in or continuing anti-competitive practices." New entrants argue that such practices include not giving competitors access to facilities essential to market entry, such as the local loop.
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{{Update|inaccurate=yes|date=September 2011}}
By 14 January 2006, 210,000 local loop connections had been unbundled from [[BT Group|BT]] operation under local loop unbundling. [[Ofcom]] had hoped that 1 million local loop connections would be unbundled by June 2006. However, as reported by [https://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/15/llu_openreach/ The Register], on 15 June 2006, the figure had reached only 500,000, but was growing by 20,000 a week. Ofcom announced in November 2006 that 1,000,000 connections had been unbundled.<ref>
By June 2006, AOL UK had unbundled 100,000 lines through its £120 million investment<ref>OFCOM The Communications Market: Broadband. Digital Progress Report. Research Report. April 2, 2007. Obtained from https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/16185/broadband_rpt.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723135130/https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/16185/broadband_rpt.pdf |date=2018-07-23 }}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=January 2008}}, making it the largest single LLU operator in the UK market{{Citation needed|date=January 2008}}.
On 10 October 2006, [[Carphone Warehouse]] announced the purchase of [[AOL]] UK, the leading LLU operator, for £370m.<ref>
{{cite press release
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|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061104074157/http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1544859,00.html
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This made Carphone Warehouse the third largest broadband provider and the largest LLU operator with more than 150,000 LLU customers.<ref>
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===Hong Kong===
Mandatory local loop unbundling policy (termed '''Type II Interconnection''' ([[Traditional Chinese]]:第二類互連) in Hong Kong<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tel_archives.ofca.gov.hk/en/tas/interconnect/ta950603.html|title=Interconnection Configurations and Basic Underlying Principles, Interconnection and Related Competition Issues Statement No 6|author=[[Office of the Telecommunications Authority]], Hong Kong Government|date=1995-06-03|accessdate=2009-10-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627070904/http://tel_archives.ofca.gov.hk/en/tas/interconnect/ta950603.html|archive-date=2013-06-27|dead-url=no|df=}}</ref>) started on July 1, 1995 (the same day of telephone market liberalisation), to ensure choice to customers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tel_archives.ofca.gov.hk/en/tas/interconnect/ta950328.html|title=Interconnection and Related Competition Issues, Statement No 1|author=Office of the Telecommunications Authority, Hong Kong Government|date=1995-03-28|accessdate=2009-10-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130411023633/http://tel_archives.ofca.gov.hk/en/tas/interconnect/ta950328.html|archive-date=2013-04-11|dead-url=no|df=}}</ref> After 10 years, new operators have built their networks covering a large region of [[Hong Kong]]; the government considered it a good time to withdraw mandatory local loop unbundling policy, to persuade operators to build their own networks and let businesses run themselves with a minimum of government intervention. At the meeting of the Executive Council on 6 July 2004, the government decided that the regulatory intervention under the current Type II interconnection policy applicable to telephone exchanges for individual buildings covered by such exchanges should be withdrawn, subject to conditions documented in [http://tel_archives.ofca.gov.hk/en/tas/interconnect/ta20040706.pdf this Statement of the Telecommunications Authority]. After that, the terms of interconnection will be negotiated between telephone operators. Hong Kong is the only advanced economy that has withdrawn the mandatory local loop unbundling policy.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://tel_archives.ofca.gov.hk/en/press_rel/2004/Jul_2004_r1.html |title=Type II Interconnection to be Withdrawn |publisher=Office of the Telecommunications Authority, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region |work=Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau (CITB) |date=2004-07-06 |accessdate=2008-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627074419/http://tel_archives.ofca.gov.hk/en/press_rel/2004/Jul_2004_r1.html |archive-date=2013-06-27 |dead-url=no |df= }}</ref>
===South Africa===
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