Yes, Openreach is an independent company within the BT Group of companies in the same way that Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Media and Virgin Rail are all part of the Virgin Group. Completely separate companies.
Please, spare us the marketing bull* ! If we want to read that, we can just read the official BT line as published on their website.
You've obviously never had any real-life experience in the industry, because if you did, you would not be regurgitating the party line.
Nor can you viably compare a typical group structure (e.g. Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Media and Virgin Rail ) to BT. You obviously fail to grasp how intertwined the BT jungle is !
The regulator has no teeth, and hasn't even put their dentures in. The so-called "chinese walls" are just something BT put in place to keep the regulator quiet and stop them moaning...... a leopard doesn't change its spots though, and the majority of people with any sort of experience in the industry will relay their impression that the walls are paper thin.
Word it any way you like, BT are operating a monopoly in all but name. If you had any real-life experience, you would see how difficult, verging on impossible, it is to escape the grasp of their sticky fingers. This is reflected in their approach to business at all levels, Retail, Wholesale and Openreach.
Not just my opinion either. Even a solicitor I spoke recently came to this opinion after coming across through multiple dealings with BT whilst reviewing and negotiating contracts on behalf of large clients, he was simply left aghast at some things he encountered that I'm not at liberty to repeat here.