back to menuAccording to Oftel, consumers who have moved their telephone services to Call and Access Service Providers have suffered serious problems. The Director General proposes to use his powers to set standards of quality of service for BT to ensure that end users receive a consistent and satisfactory standard of service. If he does so it will be the first time these powers have been used in this country.
Calls and Access Telephone Service Providers will also be required to provide a satisfactory service. Two of them, Localtel and NextCall, have been the subject of the highest level of complaints to Oftel. The Editor has recently experienced access difficulties when trying to use Cable and Wireless telephone services via a BT line. Is there a connection? There is certainly a lack of one sometimes.
In contrast to the above, Oftel is, for the first time, proposing to remove a specific Direction made against BT relating to its telephone equipment business in recognition of the fact that it no longer has a significant share of the market. The Direction was issued in 1995, but in the last four years BT’s share of the equipment market has been dropping, with high street retailers having increasing influence.
David Edmonds, Director General of Telecommunications, commented: "The telephone equipment market is the first instance where effective competition has led to a Direction being removed". He also said "The Competition Act provides a far stronger deterrent to anti-competitive behaviour than the current regime. In the same circumstances as existed in 1995 I would in future take action under these powers".
The Competition Act 1998 comes into force on March 1st and allows Oftel to fine companies that are behaving anti-competitively, up to 10% of their turnover. It gives the Director General of Telecommunications concurrent powers with the Director General of Fair Trading to fine companies which are found to have infringed the prohibitions contained in the Act.
Consultation documents and Directions can be viewed on the Oftel web site at http://www.oftel.gov.uk
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