BT fined record £42m for late installations

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BT has been hit with a record fine from telecoms regulator Ofcom and has set aside £300m to repay providers for delays in installing high-speed lines.

"Ofcom has issued the firm with a £42m fine, which it said was the largest it has ever handed down.

It found BT's Openreach division had cut compensation payments to telecoms providers for delays in installing the lines between early 2013 and late 2014.

Openreach said it "apologised wholeheartedly" for the mistakes.

The investigation found BT had broken rules about its "significant market power" by cutting the payments.




Gaucho Rasmussen, Ofcom's investigations director, said: "These high-speed lines are a vital part of this country's digital backbone.

"We found BT broke our rules by failing to pay other telecoms companies proper compensation when these services were not provided on time.

"The size of our fine reflects how important these rules are to protect competition and, ultimately, consumers and businesses."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39401577

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Ofcom investigation into BT use of Deemed Consent

"BT today acknowledged the findings of Ofcom's investigation into the historical use of 'Deemed Consent' by its Openreach business.

Deemed Consent is an agreed process between Openreach and its Communications Provider customers. It allows Openreach to halt the installation and reschedule the delivery date for providing dedicated business services (known as Ethernet) in a number of specific circumstances beyond its control.

Ofcom found that Openreach had breached its contractual and regulatory obligations by inadequately and retrospectively applying Deemed Consent between January 2013 and December 2014.

Ofcom also found that Openreach failed to compensate Communications Providers fully after successful appeals against the application of Deemed Consent over the period October 2013 to August 2016 - and Openreach has already compensated Communications Providers in full for this particular failing, which amounted to less than £1 million.

As a result of the findings, Openreach has agreed to compensate Communications Providers outside of BT in full and Ofcom has imposed a fine of £42 million, reflecting the seriousness of the failings. This includes a 30 per cent maximum discount for BT admitting its liabilities and agreeing to compensate the affected Communications Providers in full. The precise amount of these compensation payments will result from discussions with the affected Communications Providers outside of BT, but is currently estimated at approximately £300 million."

http://www.investegate.co.uk/bt-group-p ... 00085423A/