BT under fire on fast web

Local exchanges are getting some new wiring

By BBC News Online internet reporter Mark Ward

Industry watchdog Oftel has received a formal complaint from a group of telecoms companies over the way that high-speed net services are being introduced.

Three companies are complaining that the process of giving them access to local telephone exchanges is not being run fairly.

The trio want Oftel to take action to ensure they have the same access to exchanges that BT enjoys.

Oftel says it is investigating the complaint and can not say yet whether action taken because it will delay the whole unbundling process.

Local-loop laggards

The complaint has been filed by telecoms companies Energis, Colt and Kingston Communications, who have formed an unofficial alliance to complain about the way local exchanges are opened up to competition.

A spokeswoman for Oftel said officials were now scrutinising the complaint to see what action it should take.

BT still controls over 80% of all the telephone lines that run from local exchanges to homes and businesses. The unbundling process is supposed to give BT's rivals access to the exchanges so they can offer consumers a better deal on high-speed net access.

Many net service providers and telecoms firms are keen to sign up customers for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line services, which give users much faster access to the web.

Telecoms firms who wanted to offer the service and thus had to install their own hardware in BT's 6,500 exchanges were asked for a list of those they wanted access to. Some companies, such as Kingston Communications, want access to over 1,000 sites.

Oftel recently announced 361 exchanges in which rival telecommunication companies can start installing their own equipment. However, they are not the ones most popular with BT's rivals as they are considered not to be very profitable.

Oftel is now looking for a new method of allocating the most popular sites because so many companies want floor space in these exchanges.

High-speed help

Oftel has faced a barrage of criticism over the past month about the way it is handling this unbundling process. Net service provider World Online, phone firms RSL Communications, Colt and Energis have all gone on the record to complain.

Now three firms have made their complaint official, accusing BT of keeping rivals out of the most profitable local exchanges.

They are annoyed that BT is already rolling out its high-speed net service while they are left waiting for access to the exchanges.

European Union regulators are chiming in, saying BT's behaviour and Oftel's lack of regulation was threatening the UK to slip from the telecoms premier league to the relegation zone of the second division.

A spokeswoman for BT said it was "nonsense" to suggest that it was holding up the unbundling process. She added that BT was meeting all the deadlines that Oftel was setting for it.