Domestic users 'fared worst in BT price cuts'
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.Residential telephone customers have fared much worse than business in price cuts since BT was privatised, according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO), writes Mary Fagan.
The NAO has called on Oftel, the industry regulator, to examine the effect of BT price changes on ordinary customers and the link between quality of service and how much BT can charge.
The NAO report, which looks at Oftel's record on consumer protection, shows that since 1984 charges for long distance calls at peak and standard rates, those used most by business, have fallen by 61 per cent in real terms. At cheap rate, when most domestic consumers call, long distance charges have come down by 23-28 per cent, while the price of a local call has fallen by only 15 per cent.
In the first report by one watchdog on another, the NAO criticised Oftel for failing to take a tough enough approach on making companies advertise how much a service costs. One of the main areas of concern was premium rate services.
BT said the report's recommendations were 'rather superficial' and that much of the data used dated back to 1991.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments