Possible land line drop in price

Phone bills in Guernsey may go down following a decision to relax price controls on services offered by Cable and Wireless.

The Office of Utility Regulation (OUR) plans to give the company more flexibility because of a growth in competition.

Commercial director Gregory Jordan said: "It's too soon to say exactly what customers can expect."

Phone users will have to wait until next April to find out.

Relaxed regulation

Under the proposals Cable and Wireless would be allowed to make small increases to line rental charges, but it would be required to reduce the price of calls and leased business lines.

The company said details of the controls are complex and will take time to fully analyse.

But it added it was pleased the OUR had recognised that relaxed regulation will allow Cable and Wireless to be more innovative in meeting customers demands.

If approved the new controls could be in place by the middle of Spring and stay in place until March 2011.