Up to 250 new jobs could be created across the Midlands as BT's Openreach arm begins a recruitment campaign ahead of its launch next year.
The posts at the company - a subsidiary of the telecommunications giant - will be mainly for service engineers to install and maintain telephone and internet services.
Chief executive Steve Robertson (right) revealed the recruitment drive during a roadshow visit to explain about Openreach to existing BT staff.
Up to 1,400 extra staff will be recruited nationally.
Openreach is an independent arm of BT set up following a strategic review between the communications industry and its regulator Ofcom.
The changes, which ring-fence the division, come after Ofcom looked into complaints from other providers that BT's retail arm benefited from preferential treatment.
Ofcom hopes the moves will stimulate competition among operators, particularly in the area of broadband services.
The new company, which starts work in January, will have assets of £8 billion and employ 30,000 people, 3,500 of whom will be based in the Midlands.
The organisation will look after the connection between end users - households and businesses - and service providers like Wannadoo, Tiscali, Telewest or BT.
Mr Robertson is confident it will be ready to work from January 1. He said: "We'll be making sure all telecommunications providers have equal access to our network and equal service from us - all for the benefit of the end user whether you're sending an email at work or making a phone call at home."
He stressed how independent the body would be, with it being monitored by the newly-created Equality of Access Board.
