UK Director General of Telecommunications Don Cruickshank has decided that Personal Communications Network newcomers Mercury One-2-One Ltd and Hutchison Microtel Ltd should not pay Access Deficit Contributions to British Telecommunications Plc: the Access Deficit Charge covers the cost to British Telecom of providing connections to the network which is not met by connection and rental charges and are intended to protect it against unfair exploitation; The Director General concluded that neither operator is able, at present cost levels, to exploit the constraints on BT in an unfair manner, in particular, by targeting the high volume customers who make the greatest contribution to covering BT’s Access Deficit, the Office of Telecommunications statement said.
