Ref:  69/00
Date: 11 September 2000

Oftel has today made proposals to amend BT's Calls & Access Service Provider contract.

As it stands, the contract gives BT the right unilaterally to change many of the terms and conditions for the supply of Calls & Access  – a product that enables third party Service Providers to provide their own branded telephony service over BT’s network.

Oftel believes that this is not a fair and equitable contractual relationship. Oftel proposes in a consultation document to amend the section of the contract specifying the circumstances in which BT is allowed to make changes without the agreement of the Service Provider.

This will give Service Providers more security to plan ahead so that consumers have a wide range of services from which to choose.

Oftel has set a deadline of 29 September for BT and Service Providers to agree on any outstanding quality of service issues. If no agreement is reached by this date, the Director General will consider using his powers to set quality of service standards in the Calls & Access contract.

David Edmonds, Director General of Telecommunications, said:

"The change to BT’s Calls & Access contract will give Service Providers a more secure basis on which to build their business plans, and should encourage greater competition in the calls market.

"I welcome the efforts of BT and Service Providers to address quality of service issues. However, if they are unable to come to an agreement, I will consider using my powers to set standards."

Oftel has also concluded that BT's marketing activities with end users who have switched, or are planning to switch, providers, are acceptable within the terms laid down by its licence and the Competition Act 1998.

Last year, Oftel made two provisional orders against BT to address problems with Calls & Access, including customers experiencing a loss of service or being billed twice for calls.

Note to editors

1 Copies of the document, Statement on Calls & Access service standards and Statutory consultation on modification of the paragraphs in BT’s Calls & Access contract relating to its right to unilaterally change contractual terms and conditions, are available to the public from Oftel’s Research and Intelligence unit (tel: 020 7634 8761) or to the media from Oftel’s press office (tel: 020 7634 8991). The document is also available on Oftel’s website at http://www.oftel.gov.uk/fairtrade/call0900.htm.

2 Public consultation on quality of service standards for BT’s Calls & Access product is available on the Oftel website at www.oftel.gov.uk/fairtrade/call0600.htm.

Hard copies are available to the media from the Press Office on 020 7634 8991 and to the public from the Research and Intelligence Unit on 020 7634 8761.

3 Regulation 15(4) of the (Open Network Provision) (Voice Telephony) regulations 1998, the Director General may issue a direction requiring that certain conditions in contracts are altered in order to protect the rights of telecommunications users and subscribers. Once a direction has been made, the parties to the contract are under a duty to comply with it.

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