There is a widespread kneejerk reaction on any regulatory issue to see British Telecommunications Plc as the wicked near-monopolist and plucky little Mercury Communications Ltd as the good guy, but on the issue of the Access Deficit Charge, it is very difficult to accept that Mercury has a case: the rules say that once a competitor has 10% of the market, it must pay Access Deficit Charges to British Telecom, and on some definitions, Mercury now has just under 14% of the UK market, so this year may have to pay over up to #30m; the thinking behind the charge is that British Telecom alone is required to provide phone service in even the remotest parts of the country if someone requests it, and to people that almost never actually use their phones, and for competitors to pay a contribution towards this once they have a significant market share seems perfectly reasonable.
