John
You have my sympathy.
As an ex-employee of a large public utility that was privatised, I too am ashamed to see some of the things that go on.
Admittedly things were bad before privatisation, but when the golden goose day arrived, the first thing the directors did, apart from ordering themselves BMWs, was to diversify into businesses they had no experience of so that they could be proper businessmen, but more importantly, by diversifying into unregulated businesses, the opportunity for big profits was there. The core business was now a hindrance and was run into the ground. The core employees took the hint and and hastened the process or left the company in droves.
When the glittery subsidiary businesses folded, the truth hit the directors, but all the engineers and scientists had gone. This resulted in some of the biggest fines going and the now offshore owners must be wondering what they took on. The latest thing to hit the company is big job losses in what was left of customer service which is now in the hands of that well-known contractor Capita, with offices in Bangalore.
I'm surprised by what you said about fibre, but in some ways I'm not.
Chin up
