Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

BT under fire over mobile phone service pricing errors

Chris Godsmark
Saturday 14 February 1998 01:02 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

British Telecom yesterday faced two adverse rulings from Don Cruickshank, the telecoms regulator, over unfair pricing of Cellnet mobile services and errors in price lists.

Last night Mr Cruickshank issued the first ever order against Cellnet, the UK's second largest mobile network, which is 60 per cent owned by BT. It followed complaints that Cellnet's wholesale tariffs offered to retailers gave bigger airtime service providers unfair discounts.

Though Cellnet approached Oftel, the watchdog, with revised tariffs, Mr Cruickshank said the jury was still out on the packages and ordered the network to "bring discrimination to a halt."

In a separate ruling, BT's competitors were given the legal right to sue the company yesterday by Oftel, in a dispute over price lists. Mr Cruickshank yesterday issued a final order compelling BT to publish accurate and comprehensive lists of its retail and wholesale prices, after an investigation found "clear breaches" of BT's licence obligations.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in