The telecommunications watchdog Oftel appears to be threatening British Telecom with a host of stiff regulatory measures if it refuses to agree to its new interconnection proposals published last week (CI 1708); in a speech at a telecommunications conference Sir Bryan Carsberg, Oftel’s director general, said that if BT refused to agree to the new measures – which include new competitors not having to pay any access deficit levy until they have at least 10% market share – the matter would have to be refered to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, and then, it seems, it will all get a lot more serious; Sir Bryan suggests that if the matter is refered, not only interconnection, but BT’s prices, the disclosure of its financial information and most dramatically the possibility of splitting its local and international sections into two separate companies, would be discussed: BT says Sir Bryan is simply trying to justify what they call his U-turn on access deficit.
