The case relates to certain BT procedures that require a
telecoms company to notify BT when a customer intends to switch to
its service, so that BT can make the necessary changes to its own
systems to allow the transfer to take place.
Until November last year, BT passed this information to its
marketing department, which then contacted the customer to try and
persuade them to stay with BT.
BT temporarily ceased making these "save calls", following an
order to do so by the then industry regulator, Oftel. Oftel, now
replaced by Ofcom, had investigated the matter after receiving a
complaint from rivals THUS and Broadsystem Ventures Limited.
The regulator found that BT was in breach of rules that require
confidential information obtained during the process of negotiating
network access to be used only for the purpose for which it was
supplied and not to be passed on "to any other party (in particular
other departments, subsidiaries or partners) for whom such
information could provide a competitive advantage."
BT condemned the order at the time, stating that it would leave
customers confused, and might leave them vulnerable to slamming -
where a customer is switched to an alternative supplier without
their knowledge.
BT appealed to the Competition Appeal Tribunal, but in a ruling
published yesterday the Tribunal found that BT was indeed in breach
of the rules as set out under the Communications Act 2003.
"The dismissal of BT's appeal by the Tribunal vindicates our
complaint and the regulator's original decision, and reinforces the
need for continued regulatory vigilance in the UK
telecommunications market," said Bill Allan, Chief Executive
Officer of THUS.
Speaking to news site The Register, a spokesman for BT said, "We
stopped using the 'save calls' in December 2003 we just
wanted legal clarification."
BT is considering whether to appeal.
