11th Dec 2020 12:17
(Alliance News) - The UK Office of Communications said on Friday it has fined BT Group PLC GBP6.3 million for failing to give Dublin-based telecoms company Eircom Ltd the same infomation it gave its network arm during the tender for a telecoms contract in Northern Ireland in 2017 to 2018.
Between April 2017 and March 2018, the London-based telecoms company and Eir both bid for the nine-year Northern Ireland shared network contract, which planned to provide shared data transfer services and calls to more than 150 public sector organisations in Northern Ireland across 2,000 sites. BT's bid team won the contract in June 2018.
The resulting Ofcom investigation found that BT's network arm did not provide Eir with the same information about its Fibre to the premises on demand product, such as its suitability, timescales and cost for delivering the service as it did to BT's bid team.
The UK regulator said it does not believe the breaches it found were deliberate and has imposed a fine that incorporates a 30% reduction due to BT's agreement to admit full liability.
Director of Enforcement Gaucho Rasmussen said: "BT's network arm broke our rules by failing to treat a rival company and BT's own bid team equally during the tender for a major public sector contract in Northern Ireland. Our fine reflects how important these rules are, and how seriously we take compliance."
Shares in BT were down 3.8% at 130.60 pence in London on Friday.
By Zoe Wickens; [email protected]
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