BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS v INFORMATION COMMISSIONER ( 2026 ) UKFTT 877 ( GRC ) raises a question of considerable importance concerning the ambit of Reg 2 (2) of the EIR, and in particular its APPLICATION TO ENTITIES which, although operating in a commercial environment, perform FUNCTIONS within a a detailed statutory and regulatory framework governing the provision of ESSENTIAL INFRASTRUCTURE at a national level. The case concerned British Telecom ( BT ), found to be a public authority within Reg 2(2), and Openreach, a subsidiary of BT and a telecommunications infrastructure company, found NOT to be a public authority, within either Reg 2(2)©, the functional basis, or Reg 2(2)(d), the control basis. The Tribunal sets out the governing legal framework at paras 28-38 and the issues for determination at paras 39-44, and then its reasons and analysis at paras 45-224. BT is a public authority because it is entrusted under the applicable national law regime with the performance of services of public interest which have the requisite nontrivial nexus with the environment, and for that purpose is vested with SPECIAL POWERS going beyond the normal rules applicable between private persons. Openreach is NOT a public authority, because it is not itself vested with special powers and it is immaterial that as an operational fact it acts as BT’s agent, and determines in a genuinely autonomous manner the way it performs the relevant function.