British News
by The Dark Knight
Sex, Lies, and Audiotape
The government clampdown on telephone chatlines appears to have had an unfortunate effect on innocent telephone services.
Infosale, a West Country telephone sales business, may have to close after a judge ruled that its adult dating service was a type of chatline. As such, Infosale would have to pay £20,000 towards a scheme to compensate BT customers who found their phone bills had rocketed because their children were constantly telephoning chatlines.
Anthony Chappell, proprietor of Infosale, said the £20,000 bill would push his company into receivership. But worse still, Chappell said the regulations on chatlines would force him to record his customers' dating conversations. Chappell said the recordings would include the most intimate details.
On hearing this there are undoubtedly hundreds of 2600 readers wincing in horror at the realization that every time they ring an adult dating service their every word is being taped. I consider this to be an outrageous invasion of privacy, and hope that there will be a change in the law.
Keeping the Poles Apart
BT engineers are up in arms about telegraph poles. They have refused to climb non-union poles which had been fitted by private firms in London and the Midlands.
It is a protest about changes to traditional working practices. The engineers had previously replaced old poles with new ones, but left the old poles to be collected at another time. This meant that they were paid twice for visiting the same site.
A compromise scheme is now in place whereby the engineers have agreed to pilot a bold new initiative dreamed up by BT.
They will collect the old poles at the same time as the new ones are fitted!
All Down to Those Family Connections
How many of you have experienced the pleasures of contacting BT's accounts department about that phone bill you know you've paid, but BT's computer says you haven't?
Sarah Carsberg was sent a final reminder and one of those friendly letters advising you that your connection is in danger of being severed if you don't cough up. She obligingly delivered the £40 she owed.
Unfortunately there were a few crossed wires somewhere and Sarah was cut off anyway. She complained. Nothing unusual in that, of course. People are always complaining about BT.
What is interesting is the fevered response her complaint seems to have generated. Not only was she swiftly reconnected, but BT has launched an internal inquiry into why this cock-up occurred in the first place.
Optimistic to the end, I would like to think this is indicative of a new era of customer responsibility at BT, but I can't help feeling there were other factors in play here.
You see, Sarah Carsberg just happens to be the daughter of Sir Bryan Carsberg, who just happens to be the boss of telephone watchdog Oftel, the permanent thorn in the side of BT's prancing piper.
BT Charges Frustrate Competitors
The government has received proposals from over 20 companies wanting licenses to run telecommunications services, but a large number are expected to pull out because of restrictive interconnection charges.
Following market deregulation in March, the department of Trade and Industry has received bids from companies keen to compete with BT and Mercury. But the proposed new system of connection to BT's network is seen as anti-competitive.
Vivienne Peters, chief executive at the Telecommunications Users' Association, said since the access connection proposals were announced members had expressed pessimism over the likelihood of any real competition.
"The proposals are a barrier to competition as profit levels will be too narrow for reinvestment. As companies are still unsure of what the costs will be it is difficult to make business plans. I expect a huge fall-off in interest," said Peters.
Recently John Redwood, corporate affairs minister at the DTI, said a number of the twenty proposals included "substantial telecommunications systems and innovative technological approaches."
National Transcommunications, the engineering arm of the former Independent Broadcasting Authority, has expressed interest in providing telecom services.
A spokesman for National Transcommunications said the company was considering a number of options that combined its traditional broadcasting skills with telecommunications.
Northern Telecom has won a £6.8 million contract from BT's internal networks organization. Northern Telecom is supplying an Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) system to speed up BT's pick-up rate on customer inquiries in Greater London.
Dowty Communications, in collaboration with local supplier Omnicron Praha, has won orders in Czechoslovakia totaling £700,000. Dowty is to provide business and technical support as well as hardware, including X.25 packet switching networks, to the Czechoslovak state and commercial banks.