Oftel, the British Office of Telecommunications watchdog, is considering granting British Rail a licence to set up a payphone service in competition with British Telecom Plc and its nascent rival Mercury Communications – using lines leased from one or the other: the move is designed to improve the call box service; Oftel says that it has had inquiries from firms interested in running the third party phone box service but a decision is yet to be made on who will get the licence.
OFTEL TO GRANT BRITISH RAIL A LICENCE
