Ofcom to Fine BT $52 Million for Not Compensating Others for Service Delays
British regulator Ofcom will fine BT 42 million pounds (about $52.3 million) for a "serious breach" of rules in not properly paying other telecom providers for its "delays in connecting high-speed business lines." An investigation into BT's network arm, Openreach,…
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found that in 2013-2014, "BT misused the terms of its contracts to reduce compensation payments owed to other telecoms providers for failing to deliver ‘Ethernet’ services on time," said an Ofcom Sunday release, saying the company agreed to compensate the affected companies. The regulator said BT violated rules addressing its "significant market power," in which other companies rely on its network to provide services. Ofcom opened the investigation in November 2015, shortly after Vodafone made allegations against BT, which will also be fined 300,000 pounds (about $374,000) for falling to provide information to Ofcom. BT acknowledged the Ofcom findings into the "use of 'Deemed Consent' by" Openreach. "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," said a BT release Monday that estimated the compensation to other providers at about 300 million pounds (about $374 million). "We apologise wholeheartedly for the mistakes Openreach made in the past when processing orders for a number of high-speed business connections. “This shouldn’t have happened and we fully accept Ofcom’s findings," said Openreach CEO Clive Selley.